A Red, Green, and Gold Christmas
by Snapegirlkmf
Summary: Another Baby Regal/Gold family fic! Christmas is coming, and the Gold family is going through some rather difficult times, can they manage to have a merry and bright holiday? It's also Regina's first Christmas with her new family, and what mischief and hilarity will happen when she discovers Santa, elves, and the true meaning of the holiday? Gold Standard AU!
1. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morn

**A Red, Green, and Gold Christmas**

**A Once Christmas fic**

**Snapegirlkmf**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, dearies, just playing**

**Dedication: In loving memory of my mother—have a Merry Christmas Mom in heaven! **

**A/N: Takes place right after Once Upon a Thanksgiving, so please read it before you read this one, or else you'll be really confused. Thanks!**

**1**

**In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning**

It was still dark as pitch outside when Rumple left Belle alone in their room and pulled on his white sneakers and tugged his black overcoat over his black T-shirt and sweats before he went outside in the backyard to walk about and think about Belle's startling revelation. He left the outside lights on so he didn't trip and fall in a hole and break his ankle, though with the way he was feeling, that would just be par for the course.

"Startling" was one way to put Belle's news that his babies had been affected by pixie dust, he thought as he walked across the patio and towards the pool and gazebo, passing by Alina's treehouse. He paused then and stared up at the large wooden structure, with its rope ladder and balcony and two windows to let in enough light to see, the structure wrapping lovingly around the huge oak tree. He'd had the best woodworker in Storybrooke, Marco, build this treehouse for his daughter, sparing no expense on its construction or safety.

Because Alina meant everything to him, and he would never risk her life if he could help it. She had been all he'd had back then, before the curse was broken, before Belle had returned to him. Some might have called him vastly overprotective, but Rumple preferred to think of it as the outer expression of his love for his child, whom he loved as much as he did Baelfire.

He'd sought as much as possible to give Alina all the love and affection he'd been denied by his own father, who'd run off when he was five, abandoning his impressionable son, wife, and making a dreadful deal with Baba Yaga to save his own skin that would result in the witch stealing away his little daughter. He recalled the many times Alina, Henry, and now Regina had played in this tree house, made to last for years and years. It would most likely still be standing when Emma and Bae's new baby was old enough to climb into the old oak's branches and play within it.

And his own twins.

He set a hand upon the rough bark of the oak tree, and his eyes grew misty as he imagined his twins playing there . . . his babies . . . who would most likely have altered genes due to the pixie dust and fairy powers.

His and Belle's true love babies, whom he'd loved from the moment he knew of their existence.

Yet his beloved wife had been afraid to share with him her secret that their babies might have been affected by pixie dust . . . and now that was most likely a foregone conclusion, according to the Blue Fairy.

Belle's intentional omission cut him deeply, tearing into him like a thousand sword slices, leaving a gaping hole in his heart.

_She didn't trust you enough to tell you because she was afraid . . . afraid you might hurt your babies . . .like some kind of monster or a crazed animal._

He wrapped his arms about himself then, shivering wretchedly, as if he might mend the terrible throbbing wound she had put there.

_Belle . . . oh, Belle . . . God, I thought we were done with mistrust and misunderstanding when I was free of the Dark One's curse. Now that I'm just Rumple again, just a former spinner with magical powers, the good man you saw in me when I was the Beast in the Dark Castle once more, there was nothing for you to fear. I'd never harm our children . . . I'd die before letting anyone do so . . . and yet you didn't trust me enough to tell me they could have been affected by the dust . . . because you thought I'd hate them or something. _

He shook his head sadly. He knew that his prejudices against fairies were deep and even now he hadn't managed to exorcise them from his psyche, but still that didn't mean he would ever despise his children!

He began walking again, because he needed to move, couldn't bear standing still. He paced across the lawn, the grass slick with dew and making his sneakers squelch as he walked through it.

His jaw clenched as he thought of the Blue Fairy, one of the worst of her ilk, straightlaced, unbending, and hypocritical. Who had been so quick to judge him when Bae had fallen through that portal, who had refused to help him even though he'd been wallowing in regret and self-loathing enough to drown in, still she had judged him unworthy and refused to even offer him a possible alternative to finding his son. When she had been quick enough to give his son, a mere child, a magic bean and tell him the only way to break the curse on his father was to travel to a land without magic, thereby starting the terrible cycle of separation.

Oh, Rumple knew well enough that he was to blame for his broken deal, yet that did not exonerate that bloody fairy from her part in the affair! According to legend, the fairies were supposed to be beings of good, and supposed to help any who asked. Rumple supposed that stricture only extended to people the fairies deemed worthy of help, and it didn't extend to dark wizards, no matter how or why they asked for aid.

_Damn fairies! And now they've gone and meddled in my life again . . ._ he thought resentfully. He could almost think Blue had done it deliberately, for though she had warned Snow White about possible side effects, she hadn't put it in a way that had revealed to Belle or Mary Margaret just how the dust might affect a fetus. Only that it _might_ affect one.

He knew logically the two women had had very little choice but to use the dust thanks to the damn Fabrizios and their need to revenge themselves upon him and his family, that using it had probably saved all their lives aboard the plane on that fateful trip. He didn't blame Snow or Belle for doing what they'd had to in order to save them all.

But a part of him blamed the Blue Fairy for risking Belle's and his unborn children like that. It was illogical, perhaps, but nevertheless it was how he felt.

And now his children would be . . . what? Humans with fairy powers? Part-fairy? Did they even know how the dust affected a developing fetus' DNA? Rumple doubted it. And it frightened him down to the marrow of his bones to think he couldn't predict if his children would be born healthy or not.

He thought about what Blue had told Belle about how the dust might affect the babies . . . and not once had she mentioned anything physical . . . saying there was a possibility that one or both might develop wings, but what about other . . . fairy characteristics? Like pointed ears, slanted eyes, translucent skin? What if, God forbid, they were born deformed? Like with a bird's foot or something? There was really no knowing how the dust could affect them.

So far, Belle had told him that according to the sonograms, the twins were both lively and healthy and developing normally, like any other fetus. But what if that changed?

The possibilities scared him witless.

He had been prepared to have babies with magic, that was not even a shock, considering whose children they were and that they were the product of true love. He'd have been more surprised if they hadn't inherited magic. But this . . . this was a whole different kettle of fish.

He didn't know much about the way fairy magic was used, save in a few instances, like with their wands. He preferred to let their magic remain a mystery to him, and they preferred to keep it that way.

Except now their paths had collided.

And for the first time in a long long time, Rumplestiltskin was unsure and uncertain of himself. Worse still, he was bereft of his greatest support and ally, his wife, at a time when he needed her more than ever.

It made him feel utterly isolated and alone, as if he wandered in a fathomless gray mist, smothering his cries for help and preventing him from seeing a way out.

_Damn fairies! Damn them all!_ He thought agitatedly one moment, and in the next moment he snarled at himself for cursing them because now his own offspring were like them.

_All I wanted was for them to be healthy and for Belle to be as well, and for a smooth uncomplicated delivery, _he thought in anguish. _And instead I find out my wife has been keeping secrets from me, shutting me out when she should be telling me about what's been going on, because they're my babies too, dammit all! _ _I have a right to know, especially when it concerns something like this, something magical. I mean, I __**am**__ a sorcerer, and anything concerning magic should have been brought to my attention as soon as possible. _

Then another, even more dreadful thought occurred to him.

What if Belle blamed him for having to use the dust? After all, it was his defeat of Donato Fabrizio which had caused the family of necromancers to retaliate against him and his family. His humiliation of the dark patriarch that had caused him to seek vengeance against Rumple, and by extension his family. What if there was more to Belle's reason for not telling him than she would say? What if she resented him for causing this vendetta, and putting his unborn children at risk?

_My God, what have I done? Me and my damned pride. And now my children are paying the price for it. _

Guilt stalked him now, hissing and snapping at his heels like a Fury, tangling him in its unforgiving web, adding yet another layer of misery to his already wounded and aching heart.

He made his way over to the padded bench inside the gazebo and sat down upon it, rubbing his leg absently, for he felt an almost phantom throbbing in it now, despite its being totally healed by Alina after the confrontation with the Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Museum of Natural History.

Conflicting emotions of guilt, hurt, loneliness, and anger swirled through him, bubbling like a maelstrom within him, until he feared he would explode like a star gone nova.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

Belle huddled in the middle of their huge bed, clutching her belly, and sobbing into her pillow, utterly distraught. Her emotions ran the gamut from guilt from how she had hurt her husband, to fear that the Blue Fairy might have been keeping something from her, and the babies might have more than just the ability to use fairy magic, to anger at Rumple for jumping to conclusions and thinking she didn't trust him, to guilt that she had actually lied to her husband . . . well, not lied exactly, but withheld the truth until she'd had to tell him, resulting in the quarrel they had just had. _Why didn't you tell him right away? Why did you wait? You should have known better . . . Snow even told you to tell him four days ago . . ._

She recalled the look upon Rumple's face when she'd blurted out . . . stupidly . . . that she was afraid to tell him because he might have resented the babies, the look had been akin to one seen upon a person's face after being run through with a sword. Shocked agony.

_Oh, Rumple. I'm so sorry I hurt you. _She sobbed harder, despairing that she could ever fix the mess she'd made. She rubbed her belly and thought wretchedly, _My poor babies! I've hurt your papa so badly with my poor choice to wait and tell him about the pixie dust. I didn't mean to, but everything I said tonight just came out wrong. And now . . . now I don't know what to do . . ._

It was almost, yet not quite, the same desperate broken feeling she'd had the last time they had quarreled, when she had fled from the Dark Castle back to Avonlea. Only this time she didn't have the luxury of running away. Now she had to stay and face up to her mistakes, and now she found that her bravery was a sham, because she was so ashamed that she didn't know how she was going to face her husband in the morning.

Tears soaked her pillow and she sat up and rolled over to Rumple's side of the bed and buried her face in his pillow, smelling the familiar scent of his spice aftershave and mountain frost scented herbal shampoo. The familiar scent that usually comforted her made her cry now, and she wept for the breach she had created, and her fear that he might never forgive her for it.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

Snow woke up abruptly, from Regina kicking her in the ribs. She was about to move over, thinking she was in her own bed at home, when her hand reached out to open air, and she opened her eyes.

_Goodness, I almost fell right off the couch!_

Blinking, she sat up cautiously, careful not to disturb her sleeping daughter, since Regina was notoriously cranky when woken up from a sound sleep.

For a moment, Snow was disorientated, and then she recalled how she had fallen asleep on Gold's couch, while reading Regina a story. Yawning, she looked around, and saw David still snoozing in the recliner. She wondered what time it was, and glanced at her white leather wrist watch.

_2:00 AM._

Rubbing her eyes, she rose and sought out the bathroom downstairs.

As she emerged from it, as it was right off the kitchen, she noticed that there was a light on the patio, and she peered out the sliding glass door, wondering why it was on.

It was then that she saw . . . Rumple walking.

What on earth was he doing walking outside at this time of night?

Biting her lip, she frowned and some instinct made her walk upstairs, traveling down the hallway, where she heard muffled sobbing coming from Belle and Rumple's room.

Alarmed, she noticed the door was open a crack, and she peered inside.

She saw Belle curled up alone on the bed, crying hysterically.

It didn't take a genius to put two and two together, not knowing what Snow did about Belle's condition, and how she had been going to tell Rumple about the pixie dust affecting the babies that night.

_Oh no. Something's gone wrong. Really wrong._

She almost ran into the room then to comfort Belle, but then she recalled that perhaps Rumple might be in need of some comfort too.

She hurried back downstairs to wake up David and tell him what she thought had occurred between the two and ask him to speak with Rumple. Then she ran back upstairs to comfort Belle, who had become like her sister, the way David had become like a brother to Rumple.

Clearly they both needed some comfort and advice, and Snow hoped Charming and she could provide what both of them needed to help them heal.

**A/N: So, what do you think Snow and Charming will tell Belle and Rumple to do? Also, would you like me to include Christmas recipes like I did for Thanksgiving? Review and let me know!**

**I wanted to get a chapter up for you all before the holiday, since I know you've all been waiting anxiously for one, and hope you like the start of this fic. There will be many more moments with all the family in it, especially Regina, as they go through the Christmas holidays, including some moments with previously absent family members, like the Sparrows, as well as a few unexpected ones as well. But I probably won't be updating this until after Thanksgiving, so please be patient!**


	2. The Charmings' Advice

**2**

**The Charmings' Advice**

"Belle? Belle, are you okay?" Snow called softly, pushing open the door and coming into the bedroom. "Is it the babies?"

Belle lifted her face from Rumple's pillow and looked up as Snow entered. "Snow? I . . . I . . . was just . . ." _bawling like I was Regina's age,_ she thought, embarrassed to have anyone besides Rumple catch her this way.

Snow came over and sat down on the bed next to her. "Hey. it's all right. You can tell me. I'm your family, remember? Are you sick? Or is something else bothering you?"

Belle gave her a shaky half-smile. "No, I'm not sick. I'm just upset. Rumple . . . and I . . . had a terrible fight . . ." She sat up slowly, holding her belly. The twins, for once, were quiet, and Belle assumed they were sleeping. Or maybe too upset to move around like they'd been doing. "And it's all my fault, Snow!" she sniffled.

"Here," Snow handed her a tissue. "This is about the babies being affected by the pixie dust, right?"

Belle nodded. "Yes. I told him . . . and he was . . . was a little upset . . . but he was more upset that I didn't tell him right away than he was about the babies possibly having powers or whatever. You were right, I should have told him right away, but I thought I had time . . . or rather I hoped I'd never have to discuss it with him. I was so stupid! And then I . . . I said that one reason I never told him was that I was afraid he'd resent his children because he didn't like fairies."

Snow's eyes widened. Even she knew what a colossal blunder that was.

"And he . . . he got this look in his eyes, Snow, like I'd stabbed him to death. . . and in a way I did. And he thought . . . he thought I didn't trust him because he was a monster and he left and went for a walk to think," Belle swiped at her eyes with the tissue as they were leaking tears again. "Snow . . . I never should have said that. I knew it the moment the words came out of my mouth. I hurt him so bad . . . and I didn't mean to. Everything I said tonight . . . it just came out wrong. And now I don't know how to fix it! What do I do? Have you ever fought with David like this?"

Snow hugged the distraught woman. "Oh, Belle. All married couples fight like this sometimes. David and I did even when we were cursed and I didn't know who he really was. Sometimes he made me so mad I wanted to hit him. In fact . . . back in Fairy Tale Land, I did hit him once. Knocked him right on his princely ass," Snow admitted with a soft chuckle.

Belle gasped. "You didn't!"

"Yeah, I did, girlfriend," Snow said.

"And he . . . he forgave you?"

"Yes. Once his pride stopped stinging," Snow grinned. "As to what you should do . . . well, one of the first things I'd do was to apologize, if you think you're truly the one to start all this. But Belle, why did you wait so long to tell him the truth about the pixie dust?"

"Because I didn't want him to get upset over nothing . . . if there was nothing to be upset about," Belle said softly. "I know him, Snow. He'd have fretted and worried himself to death . . . and I didn't want him getting all frazzled over this. It wasn't because I didn't trust him. I'd trust Rumple with my life . . . with all of our lives," she said fiercely.

"Did you tell him that?"

"No. He was so angry and upset that he left before I could try and explain what I really meant to say," Belle sighed.

"Then I think you've got to tell him what you do mean," Snow told her. "Don't let this misunderstanding between you two fester. Be open and honest and discuss things with him. That's the only way I know to mend things."

Belle bit her lip. "That's not going to be easy. Getting him to listen to me, that is."

"David's talking with him right now. I'm sure Rumple doesn't want to quarrel with you anymore than you do him," Snow counseled. "I know that when I was fighting with David, both during the curse and before it, I was so miserable until I finally talked things out with him. And that wasn't always easy either, believe me. But once it was done, we managed to resolve things between us. I'm thinking once you do that with Rumple, the quarrel will mend itself."

"I'm just scared, Snow. Not scared of him . . . or what he might do to me or even the babies . . . scared that what I did and said might have destroyed his self-esteem again," Belle said worriedly.

"Hey, we all make mistakes," Snow consoled her. "And once you explain that you were trying to protect him and not just shutting him out, his self-confidence will return."

"You think so?" Belle asked tremulously.

"I know so. Belle, you and Rumple are like Charming and me. You love each other so deeply that you can hurt each other without really meaning to. And this thing with your babies, it's serious business, and one you two need to be on the same page with. I'm sure once you explain to him what you really mean that he'll forgive you and understand."

"I hope so."

"I have faith in you," Snow said with quiet conviction. "In both of you. Now, why don't I go and make us some tea? I could sure use some."

"Yes. Tea sounds good," Belle agreed, blowing her nose. "Thanks, Snow."

"No problem. We're sisters, and family helps family," Snow hugged her again. "Be right back."

Then she went downstairs to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

Belle watched her go, a bit pensive, but determined to fix what she had torn asunder. Rumple was the most important thing in the world to her, besides her children, and she would not let this misunderstanding ruin what she had fought so hard for.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

"Rumple, buddy, isn't it a little late to be out watching the stars?" David asked nonchalantly as he sat down next to the man he'd once considered an enemy, than an uneasy ally, and now thought of as the brother he'd never had but always wished for. He eyed the sorcerer with concern, for Rumple looked like hell, like a man who was on the verge of falling apart. Though he was a powerful magic wielder, the most powerful in Storybrooke, right then David sensed Rumple was as vulnerable as he'd ever seen him.

Rumple slowly lifted his head and said softly, "How did you know I was here?"

"Snow woke up and saw a light on the patio and she asked me to come and look around. I did and I saw someone walking out here, so I went to see who it was and then I saw it was you," David said easily. "Like I said, it's a little late for a midnight stroll . . . something bothering you?"

Rumple was silent for several moments, considering whether he wanted to talk to Charming about what had happened between him and Belle. The wound she had dealt him was still open and raw, and he was still upset and angry at her omission. Once he would have pulled away from revealing anything about himself, closed himself up like a clam from revealing any vulnerability, back when he trusted no one and nothing save Belle. But that had changed after their vacation to Manhattan. David had been there for him when he was so deathly ill from that hangover, and had even asked him for advice quite a few times about parenting, showing that he valued Rumple's opinion and cared about him. David had become more than an annoying prince begging for favors from the Dark One. David was family . . . and Rumple found that he needed someone to talk to, someone to help him sort through the morass of feelings he was drowning in.

"I came out here to think . . .after Belle told me about something concerning the twins," Rumple began, telling the former prince about the pixie dust on the airplane and Belle's odd symptoms and requests and how they now knew their babies had been affected by the pixie dust and their subsequent argument.

Charming raised an eyebrow. He'd known a little about the incident on the plane, since Snow had mentioned it to him once they'd gotten home, and said she hoped nothing had happened to Belle's baby as a result. Of course that was a moot point now and David knew better than to tell Rumple that he'd known, it would only make him feel worse about Belle's decision. "Okay . . . so, you're angry at Belle because she didn't tell you the babies might have fairy magic?"

Rumple shook his head. "No. I'm angry over the fact that she didn't trust me to tell me right away. That she'd think . . . even for a moment . . . that I could ever hurt my children! Dammit all, she ought to know me better than that! I spent three hundred years searching for Bae, I raised Alina on my own, and I'd sooner kill myself than harm one of them . . . much less my wee babies."

David winced at the pain in the other's voice. "Rumple . . . maybe she didn't mean it like you think. Maybe she didn't tell you not because she didn't trust you, but because she was trying to protect you. Snow gets like that with me too."

"Protect me? From something I should know about?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but . . . Belle's always been overprotective of those she loves . . . and I don't think she meant to keep this a secret so much as she didn't see a good enough time to tell you about it."

"But she's never kept anything from me before," Rumple protested. "That's what really gets me, David. We've always tried to be open about things since she escaped and came back to me. And then I find that she's been keeping something like this from me . . . I feel like she shut me out . . ."

"Like I said, buddy, I don't think it's because she didn't trust you, I think it's because she was looking to protect you, to keep you happy. After all, as soon as she knew the babies were really affected, she told you. And didn't you tell me that she said she didn't say anything at first because she didn't want to upset you over nothing?"

"Yes, she did say that . . . and I would have been upset . . . hell, I _am_ upset, because that fairy didn't explain fully about how much Belle was at risk before she used the dust, and now my babies pay the price. I'm mad as hell at the Blue Fairy . . . and scared that there might be something . . . wrong with the babies."

"But you're not mad at Snow or Belle for using the dust?" Charming probed.

"No. They didn't have a choice. I had no more magic then, and they did what they had to . . . since it was my fault the damned Fabrizios attacked us after I defeated their leader," Rumple said heavily, guilt sitting like a black beast upon him.

"Your fault? Buddy, what are you nuts?" David demanded. "You only fought Fabrizio because he threatened us all, and he got his ass kicked just like he deserved. It was _his_ choice to have his goons attack the airplane, you had nothing to do with it. Stop blaming yourself, Rumple, for someone else's bad choices. They wanted revenge and they were determined to kill to get it. We all did what we had to in order to survive. I'll admit, having your kids born with unusual powers is a shock, but . . . you and Belle will handle it."

"If she wants me to," Rumple said glumly.

"She loves you, Rumple. I'm sure she does. She loves you enough to make stupid mistakes, like I did to Snow, trying to protect you from being hurt, and instead making things worse by not telling you everything. That's what true love is. Not being perfect, but being a perfect idiot and then having to say you're sorry and start over again."

Rumple quirked an eyebrow. "I thought love meant never having to say you're sorry," he quipped.

David snorted. "Only in the movies. I can't count how many times I've apologized to Snow, especially when we were cursed."

"I've done my share of that too with Belle."

"Well, now I think you ought to give her the same chance," David said. "You will, won't you?"

Rumple nodded, finding his anger slowly drifting away as he considered what Charming had said to him. "Yes. She hurt me, I won't pretend she didn't, but after all I've been and done, I'd be the world's worst hypocrite to not allow her to apologize." He rose gracefully to his feet. "Thanks for coming out here, David. I might have sat out here all night moping and going crazy if not for you."

"Hey, what's family for, Gold?" David said.

Rumple chuckled. "Come on, let's go inside. It's freezing out here, and I could use a cup of cinnamon vanilla cocoa right about now."

"Cinnamon cocoa? You sound like Emma and Henry," Charming smirked.

"It's what my mother used to make for me whenever I was upset when I was small. It was very soothing. When . . . when we thought Rhea had died, we drank that every night for a year and sometimes it was flavored with salt," Rumple recalled. "I drank that a lot now that I think about it. After I lost Bae, after I thought Belle died . . .where do you think Henry gets it?"

"Maybe I ought to try some," David mused.

"Come on, I'll make some for you. And Belle and Snow also," Rumple said.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

Rumple floated two cups of his special cocoa upstairs and followed after them, knocking gently on the door of his bedroom a few moments later to alert Snow to his presence. Then he turned the knob and walked in.

He found Belle and Snow sitting on the bed, sharing a plate of cookies, crumbs speckling their faces and the bed. They looked up when he came in, like two little girls suddenly caught in some mischief.

"Rumple!" Snow cried, at nearly the same time as Belle.

"Hey, dearies," he greeted them, as the cups of cocoa floated into the room. "Snow, would you excuse us? I need to have a little talk with my wife."

"Sure," Snow said, and she gave Belle an encouraging smile before rising and taking her empty cup of tea with her out of the room.

Rumple floated the cocoa onto his nightstand before he took off his sneakers and placed them neatly in front of his closet, next to his usual Gucci shoes he wore to the shop.

He took his time doing so, giving himself time to quiet the anger that insisted upon surging up in him.

Belle watched in trepidation from the bed, sweeping a pile of crumbs into her hand, feeling her stomach do a flipflop when he turned around to face her at last. "Rumple . . ."

He looked at her then, and in his eyes was still that deep hurt, but there was also a certain . . . softening in his demeanor. She could feel that he was still hurt and angry, but was now prepared to listen also. He went and sat down on the bed where Snow had been. "You have something to say to me, dearie?" he asked, rather sharply, then regretted it when he saw the tear tracks on her face. "Ah, Belle . . ."

All at once she was hugging him and half-crying on his shoulder, her belly impeding her from holding him as close as she wanted. "Rumple, I'm so sorry! Please, you have to believe me. I . . . I didn't mean what I said before . . . not the way I said it. Of course I know you would never hurt our babies. You're a good father, Rumple. And I do trust you . . . I just . . . got scared when I learned what Blue told me . . . and I felt guilty about keeping you in the dark for so long . . . and I swear to you, I never meant to hurt you like that."

Tears of remorse leaked all over Rumple's shirt and he automatically reached up and stroked Belle's hair, his anger starting to melt away.

But he still needed to get a few things off his chest first.

"I know, dearie. But you did hurt me . . . a lot," he said quietly.

She flinched as if he'd branded her with a red hot poker, or yelled an accusation at her.

"I felt like . . . like you shut me out . . . like you felt I shouldn't know about my own children . . ."

"Oh, Rumple! I wanted to tell you . . . so many times . . . and then I just didn't know how . . . and so I waited and I should have told you a long time ago. I just didn't want you to worry . . ." she stared up at him with her brilliant blue eyes shimmering wetly.

"Don't ever do that again, Belle. Don't shut me out. I want to know everything that goes on concerning my children and you. Especially something that pertains to magic."

"I know. I was wrong to keep it from you . . ." she said remorsefully.

"Yes. But I can understand why you did. Only please don't make this a habit, dearie. I don't want a marriage based on secrets. And I need you to trust me. Your trust and love are my strength."

"And yours are mine," she whispered. "Do you . . . can you forgive me?"

"Do you really need to ask?" he answered tenderly. Then he kissed away her tears, his lips gently absorbing her sorrow. "After all, you forgave me for all my faults."

She nestled against him, with her head resting against his chest. "God, I love you, Rumple. And I won't do that again, I promise."

He rested his head atop hers, then said, "Next time you visit Blue, I want to go with you and hear what she has to say. I want to make sure they're born healthy . . . whatever powers they happen to have."

She sighed in acquiescence.

Rumple turned and grabbed the cocoa from the nightstand. "Here, Belle. Take a sip of this. I think we both need to drink some after the night we've just had."

Belle did so, saying it was the best cocoa she'd ever tasted, and it warmed her all the way down to her toes.

They sipped their cocoas quietly then, allowing the peace of the night to flow over them, banishing the resentment and shame.

Though Rumple knew the hurt he had felt would take time to fade . . . as would the fear that the fairies might decide to take the children away. But for now, it was enough.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

The next morning, Regina woke up and found she was in her pink room at her Uncle Rumple's house. She yawned and stretched, then went to use the bathroom. She padded downstairs and saw her mommy and daddy sleeping on the couch and heard someone in the kitchen.

When she walked in to see who it was, she found Alina there, feeding Nala.

"Hey, Alina. Why's everyone sleepin'?"

"I dunno. Guess they're all tired after the holiday," her cousin said.

"I hungry."

"Okay. What do you want to eat? Cereal, oatmeal, eggs, sausage, ham, or French Toast?" she listed all the things she was able to cook for breakfast.

"Uh, French toast, please!"

"Okay. Let's get out what I need."

Soon Regina was helping Alina sprinkle cinnamon into a milk and egg mixture and letting the bread soak in it while the older girl got the grill hot. She looked adorable in her violet feet pajamas with Rapunzel on them, swinging by her long golden hair.

When Alina judged the grill was hot enough, she put the French toast on it, then told Regina to get the syrup out.

The child scurried over to the pantry and did so, carrying it with both hands to the counter. "Alina, I did it!"

"Good job," Alina told her, watching the toast carefully, holding a spatula.

Regina climbed up on a chair and watched too, asking after a minute. "When do we fwip them?"

"Fwip—what . . . oh you mean _flip_ them," Alina said, figuring out what she was saying. "In another minute. Watch."

She waited and then flipped one lightly over, like Alice had taught her. She did another and would have done a third, when Regina cried, "I wanna try! Please! I wanna fwip it!"

"All by yourself?"

"Uh huh. I's a big girl!" the toddler declared.

Alina handed her the spatula, remembering how Alice would always let her help when she was little.

Regina went to flip the French toast . . . and she flipped it all right . . . off the grill, into the air, and then onto the floor.

Splat!

"Oops!" the child cried in dismay. "I sorry!"

"It's okay," Alina soothed. "I did that a lot the first time I tried to flip something."

"But now we don't gots enough!" Regina sniffled.

"Don't worry. I can fix it," Alina said, and waved a hand.

The French toast was cleaned and put back on the grill.

Regina clapped. "Yay!"

"What's going on in here?" asked Rumple, coming into the kitchen rubbing his eyes.

"Unca Rumple!" shrilled Regina. "Alina and me's makin' French toast an' I fwipped it on the floor . . . and then Alina fixed it."

"That's good, dearie." Rumple went and hugged his niece, who threw her little arms about his neck and kissed his cheek.

Then he went and hugged his daughter, saying, "That smells wonderful. Got any coffee made?"

"Uh . . . not yet," Alina said.

"I'll do it," her father said, and began to make some while Alina flipped the French toast off the grill and onto a plate.

Soon they had several pieces in a neat stack and Rumple also heated up some ham.

Alina got orange juice for herself and Regina and soon they were all eating the golden French toast with syrup and ham.

Soon after, Charming, Belle, and Snow came in and helped themselves to some French toast and ham as well.

As they ate, Charming recalled something, and said, "Hey, Snow. Aren't we supposed to go to the Christmas tree farm today and pick out a tree for Christmas?"

"That's right," Snow remembered.

"Why do we need a tree, Mommy?"

"It's tradition," Snow answered. "To decorate a tree and then wait for Santa to put presents under it."

"I wanna help pick out a tree!" her daughter yelled.

"Okay, imp. You can go with Daddy and help," Snow said.

"And Bae was going to come with Henry too," Charming said.

"We haven't gotten a tree yet, Papa," Alina said.

"Hmm . . . maybe I should come pick one out too," Rumple mused.

"Why don't you guys all go do that with Regina," Snow said. "While Alina, Emma, Belle, and I all go shopping?"

"Because today's Black Friday!" Alina gasped.

"What's Black Friday?" Regina wanted to know.

"It's like the biggest shopping day before Christmas," Alina said. "And the stores have all these big sales and everybody goes nuts over trying to get the latest toy or whatever."

Rumple grimaced. "You all go do that, dearie. I'd rather walk around the Christmas tree farm and pick out a tree."

"Me too! Me too!" Regina yelled. She stuffed some French toast in her mouth and almost choked on the mouthful.

David swatted her gently on the back. "Easy! Next time take smaller bites."

"But I's hungry!" Regina objected. "An' I wanna go to the Cwistmas tree farm and help pick a tree."

"But first you need to finish eating," Snow told her firmly.

"'Kay," Regina said, and ate some ham. She couldn't wait to go and pick out a tree with Daddy, Unca Rumple, Bae, and Henry. It was going to be the bestest tree ever!

David exchanged glances with Rumple. This was sure going to be an interesting family activity, especially with Regina along.

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Rumple's Comforting Hot Cocoa**

2 cups 2% milk

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

4 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, such a Lindt, chopped

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Long cinnamon sticks for stirrers, optional

Place the milk and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Off the heat, stir in the chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon with a wooden spoon and allow to steep for 3 minutes. Reheat the hot chocolate over low heat until it simmers.

Strain the chocolate into a measuring cup and pour into mugs. Stir with cinnamon sticks, if desired

**A/N: Hope you all liked! I work retail and worked all day yesterday and will all the way through Thursday. So i really need some reviews to pick me up and some of that cocoa too! What trouble will Regina find at the Christmas tree farm?**


	3. O Christmas Tree!

**3**

**O Christmas Tree!**

Before they all left for the Christmas tree farm, which was run by a man named Nicholas Grace, a man with a bluff exterior and a snowy white beard whom some of the children of Storybrooke jokingly called "St. Nick", Rumple decided to cast a general all-purpose protection spell on all the women and Alina who were going Black Friday shopping. After reading about all the craziness on previous Black Fridays, with people getting trampled, shot, or stabbed, Rumple was taking no chances with the wellbeing of his family, two of whom were pregnant.

He supposed he could have asked his apprentices to help him, but Rumple was used to doing things himself, and so he just cast the spell as they were all gathered together in his foyer, wisps of purple light drifting in sparkles over them as they talked about where they were going to go and how much fun they were going to have.

Once that had been taken care of and he'd kissed Belle and Alina goodbye and told them to have fun shopping with his Black Amex, Gold got into his Cadillac with Regina, David was driving his truck, and Bae and Henry were in Bae's Ford Escape, since they would need all three cars to transport the trees home.

Regina insisted that Rumple put on some Christmas music as they drove to the tree farm. "Unca Rumple, I wanna hear Jingle Bells," she said, rather imperiously.

"We'll see what's on the station," Rumple said, and found one of the local stations playing some Christmas tunes and turned up the volume. The radio started blasting "O Christmas Tree", a rather fitting song considering what they would be doing today, and Rumple hummed along with the song as he drove.

Unlike some would think, Rumple was not Scrooge during the holidays, though he didn't believe in getting a child everything she saw on Christmas, even though money had never been an object with him. He tended to emphasize the giving aspect of the holiday, and had taught Alina to find joy in giving gifts as well as receiving them.

Several of his poorer tenants often found anonymous gifts of food and clothing upon their porch steps during this time, in baskets and boxes, and a few others envelopes with money inside so they could get their children presents they otherwise couldn't afford. He knew that people would have been shocked that their hardnosed coldhearted landlord was behind these unexpected gifts, and he was rather embarrassed at his generosity becoming public knowledge, so he kept silent and let those who received things wonder who was behind it all.

"Unca Rumple, when's Santa comin' to town?" Regina asked as they drove down Evergreen Way, where the tree farm was located, at the opposite end of Storybrooke's docks, right outside the stretch of piney woods surrounding the town.

"Very soon, dearie," he replied, thinking of a time when Alina had asked that question of him too. "And you're going to behave, right?"

"Uh . . . I try," the toddler said, which was her standard answer when she didn't want to say yes.

"You do that, and Santa will come and leave presents under your tree on Christmas morning," her uncle told her.

"The tree we's goin' to get," Regina clarified.

Just then the familiar "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" came on, and Regina started singing happily along with it.

Rumple winced a few times, because while the little girl was an enthusiastic singer, she had a shrill voice and sometimes hit wrong notes, causing his sensitive eardrums to ache.

Luckily, the drive didn't take more than ten minutes, and soon they were pulling into the parking lot of the tree farm. A lot of the former loggers and woodsmen in Fairy Tale Land worked for Nicholas Grace during the holiday, including Jill's husband Jack, cutting trees and then bringing them to interested buyers and helping them tie the trees to their vehicles.

As soon as Gold had unbuckled her from her car seat, Regina ran out of the Cadillac and over to her father, who had parked his truck beside them. "Daddy! Daddy, let's get a Cwistmas tree!" she yelped, her dark hair coming loose from its ponytail and straggling about her cherubic face. She was wearing her jeans, a soft purple sweater and her light-up Reeboks, which were her current favorite shoes.

"Okay, princess," Charming said, and scooped his eager child into his arms. He was wearing his black pants and blue shirt and white pullover he'd come to Thanksgiving in, and his brown hiking boots.

Bae and Henry, dressed in jeans and Fire Mountain hoodies, though Bae's was a master's black and Henry's a beginner's white, joined them after a moment. "Hey, Papa," Bae greeted his father. He eyed the older man speculatively, and said, "That sweater Armani?"

Gold had on a very nice-looking cable-knit ivory pullover, on top of one of his Brooks Brothers red shirts and a pair of comfortable designer jeans and his sneakers, since he needed to dress casually in order to hunt for a Christmas tree. "No, Bae. It's called sweaters by Rumplestiltskin."

"You mean, you made it, Grandpa?" Henry asked, slightly in awe.

"That would be a yes, dearie," Gold answered. "Knitting gives me something to do in the evenings instead of just reading and watching TV. Plus, it's getting colder now and I need something to keep my old bones warm."

Henry felt the sweater, saying, "It's really soft!"

"That's because I use mohair to knit," his grandfather explained.

"What's mohair?"

"That's hair from a goat," Bae told him. "Like the one we used to have back in the Enchanted Forest."

"Goat hair is among the softest and warmest materials, which is why I chose it to make this sweater," Rumple explained as they walked over to a sign that said _Wait Here For Next Available Wagon._

"Cool!" Henry said, eyeing the sweater a trifle wistfully.

Rumple saw and asked quietly, "Would you like me to make you one, Henry?"

"Sure! If you've got time," Henry said. Though he was a magician and loved using magic to do things, he also found it fascinating and awesome that his grandfather could make things without magic. One of his most cherished possessions, besides his fairytale book, was a set of clothes Rumple had made for Bae when he was young, including a cream-colored shawl. He also loved his special blue blanket and his buckskin horse amulet. They were simple things, but they meant a lot to a boy who valued family, and these were almost like heirlooms, made lovingly by a poor spinner for his only son and now they'd been passed down to him.

"I do," Rumple reassured him. He was a fast knitter and it didn't take long to knit a sweater.

"I wanna sweater too, Unca Rumple!" Regina cried, feeling left out.

"How do you ask, Regina?" Charming prompted the child, not wanting her to forget her manners.

"Please, Unca Rumple!"

"All right, imp. I'll make you a lavender one and Henry a blue one," the former spinner said.

Regina looked delighted, as she usually did when getting new clothing.

Suddenly a large wagon, the kind farmers used to deliver many bales of hay in, drew up. It was pulled by two large draft horses, Clydesdales, with massive shoulders and creamy feathers on their huge hooves, which were the size of small tires. They were colored a deep chestnut and had long cream manes and tails and huge brown eyes.

"Horsies!" Regina squealed. "Daddy, I wanna pet them!" she reached out her hands for them.

"Uh . . ." David looked over at the driver, who happened to be Nick himself, wearing a red Santa hat and coveralls with a red jacket and black workboots.

"It's okay, Mayor Nolan," Nick said with a deep chuckle. "Mistletoe and Holly are good girls, they won't bite."

So David allowed Regina to pet the mares' noses, and then they all hopped into the wagon, sitting among the piles of hay, while Nick drove them out to where the trees could be picked out.

Nick explained that all the trees ready to be cut had red ribbons around them and ones that had been purchased already had blue ones. He handed David a handful of yellow ribbons and said they could tie them about the trees they wanted.

For the first few minutes, Regina was content to sit on David's lap and look out at the dirt track and the woods as they clopped along. But since she was an energetic child, sitting still wasn't something she did well, unless she was sick or sleepy.

So soon she had crawled out of David's lap and trotted to the back of the wagon. She picked up some hay and cried, "Hay is for horses!" Then she started neighing and galloping about.

Hay flew all over and soon there was a blizzard of straw surrounding her and then drifting all over the rest of them.

"Hey!" Bae cried, as straw fell into the back of his shirt.

"Regina, stop jumping!" David ordered as some more hay pelted him in the back of the head.

"But Daddy, I's a horsie!" the toddler yelled and continued stamping and tossing hay all over creation.

Hay fell all over Henry, as Regina shoved a huge fistful at him.

More hay cascaded over Rumple, sticking in his hair and all over his sweater, making him look oddly like a scarecrow. Frowning, he brushed at his clothes and said, "Dearie, quit making a ruckus back there and leave the hay alone."

Regina ignored them all and continued neighing and chucking hay about until David glared at her and snapped, "Regina Nolan, what'd I say? Now behave or else you can stand in the corner while the rest of us pick out a tree, clear?"

At that threat, Regina quit neighing and cried, "You is mean, Daddy!" Disgruntled, she ran and hid behind Henry, who was busy picking hay off his sweatshirt.

Bae glanced at Rumple and snickered, saying, "Too bad you didn't bring your wheel, Papa. Then you could spin some gold while we're riding."

"Haha, Bae. Very funny," Rumple snorted, picking off straw from his sweater. Frustrated by how slow the process was, he used a small spell to clean himself off.

Tired of hiding, yet still mad at her father, Regina peered over at Nick and finally crawled into the seat next to him. "Who're you?" she asked frankly.

"My name's Nick, little lady," he said, smiling at the former mayor.

"Are you Santa?" she asked, staring at his hat and beard. He had the hat and beard like Santa was supposed to, but everything else was different. Including the sleigh and where on earth were his reindeer?

"Uh . . . well . . . I'm Santa's helper," Nick coughed, flushing slightly.

Behind him, Henry giggled softly at Regina's assumption. He leaned on the hay and listened as his small aunt proceeded to give the farmer the third degree about all things Santa Claus.

"You is not an elf! You is too big!" Regina protested. "An' Santa's name is Nick, Mommy says so." She frowned, her lower lip sticking out adorably. "But . . . where's your reindeer? They's supposed to pull the sleigh. An' Rudolph's s'post to lead 'em. I know, 'cause Mommy an' Daddy an' I saw the movie on TV."

"Uh . . . okay . . . but my reindeer are resting, so they can fly on Christmas Eve," Nick said, pretending to go along with her, since she was so adorable and curious. "That's why I use horses now."

She considered this, then said, "Okay. How 'bout you list? Do ya really check it twice? Am I on the Nice List? Is Henry? An' Alina? How's about Hans, Grace, the Zimmermans, an' Ash?" she queried, naming the children she was with most often, which now included Ash Fox, who had helped her take care of Reggie at the convent and showed her how he made sure all the turkeys his father raised were treated decently, despite being a former fox cub.

Nick bit his lip. "Err . . . I can't say, Regina. That's . . . uh . . . classified."

She pondered what that meant, then recalled Henry always using that word. "It's a secret?"

"Yes."

"What about grown-ups?" she asked then. "Do ya gots a grown-up Christmas list? Is my mommy an' daddy on it? How about Unca Rumple, Auntie Belle, Emma, an' Bae? They all been good. 'Cept when Daddy yells at me an' makes me stand in the corner. Or Unca Rumple spanks me. Then they's bad."

Nick's lips twitched hard beneath his beard as he fought to keep from laughing. "Well . . . grown-ups are different . . ."

"If they's bad, do ya put coal in their stockings?" she asked. "Alice said if kids are bad they gets coal, rocks, an' reindeer poop in their stockings 'stead of candy, fruit, an' a toy."

"Oh. I see," Nick smothered a chuckle behind his beefy hand. For a moment or two he couldn't reply, he was laughing so hard behind his hand.

Henry was too, laughing into his shawl, which he'd worn over his hoodie. "Reindeer poop! Coal!"

"Well?" she demanded.

"Uh . . . I only bring little children presents and . . . err . . . if they're naughty they don't get anything except . . . err . . . what you just said."

"Yuck! That's 'sgusting!" she wrinkled her nose. "Where's Mrs. Claus? And how come no elves is here? How far away is the North Pole? Does it snow all year there? What do reindeer eat? Magic feed corn?"

Poor Nick was almost overwhelmed by her constant questions, and ended up scratching his head trying to decide how he was going to answer them all.

Rumple, upon hearing Regina chattering, happened to glance back and saw her seated beside Nick and called, "Regina, quit badgering Mr. Grace and come over by me, dearie."

Regina shook her head. "Nuh uh, Unca Rumple. Me an' Santa's talkin'. His name ain't Mr. Grace—it's Mr. _Claus_!"

At that, Bae, Henry, and David started laughing.

"Guess she told you, Rumple!" Charming said inbetween giggles.

"Oh, for God's sake!" the sorcerer muttered.

"Unca Rumple, you better be good!" his niece said, shaking her little finger at him. "Else Santa's not gonna give you anything 'cept coal, rocks, an' reindeer poop!"

"Really, dearie?" Rumple rolled his eyes, while next to him his son, grandson, and brother cracked up.

"Yup!" Regina said, then she turned back to "Santa" and said, "So where's you wife? Is she at home?"

"Uh, yes, she is." Nick managed to say, finding it extremely funny that the intrepid child dared to sass Mr. Gold like that. "And the reindeer eat . . . err . . . magic corn and blocks of salt and brown sugar and hay. And it snows all the time at the North Pole."

"Do ya gots magic like Unca Rumple?" was her next question.

"Err . . . sort of, but my magic is only good on Christmas Eve," Nick answered.

"How come you don't got any kids?" she wanted to know then. "Is it 'cause your biological clock's ticking?"

Nick lost it then and started laughing hysterically. "My biological clock . . . oh Lordy . . . help me . . .!"

Regina was puzzled as to why he found that so funny. Then again, she supposed Santa was just acting like a grown-up . . . weird like they all did.

By the time Nick managed to get himself under control again, they were at the large expanse of trees and he stopped the wagon. "Okay . . . here we are, folks. Go ahead and pick out any tree you like."

They all climbed down from the wagon, and David picked up Regina before she could jump off herself. "Sorry, she can be a little . . .chatterbox sometimes."

"It's okay, mayor. She's a hoot!" Nick chuckled, then pulled on the reins and said, "I'll be back here in about two hours. Is that enough time for you to pick out a few?"

"Sure, that's fine," David said, then he went out towards the rows upon rows of fir trees.

There were Douglas firs, blue spruce, Scotch pines, a variety of trees that were short, tall, fat, and thin and made the air smell heavily of a clean fresh pine scent.

There were other families with children walking in and out of the rows, examining the trees.

Regina held to David's hand at first, a little overwhelmed at the size of the trees at first. They towered almost to the sky and she looked up at them and thought about how pretty they all seemed.

"Daddy, what kind do we want?"

"Uh, one that's not too big and not too small," he answered, examining a Douglas fir. "We can't fit a huge tree in our loft."

"Yeah, neither can we," Bae said. "Not like Papa can, with those high ceilings of his."

"So we need a tree that's sort of medium-sized," Henry said. He began looking at some trees over in the next row.

"I like a tree that's tall yet has sturdy branches so it can hold ornaments well," said Rumple, peering up at a blue spruce with thick branches tipped with a bluish green pigment.

Regina suddenly pulled free of David's hand and raced under a large pine tree which had branches that didn't start growing until about three feet up the trunk. "Lookit! I's inside the tree . . . like a house!"

The men smiled at her and continued pointing out the merits and defects if the trees in the row.

"Dad, how about this one?" Henry called to Bae.

"Nah, tiger. This one's missing branches on one side." Bae said, shaking his head.

"Hmm . . .. this one's not too bad," David said. "What do you think, Rumple?"

"The top's not good," disagreed the pawnbroker. "Look, it has hardly enough branches at the top." He pointed to the lack of sturdy branches. "It won't hold if you try and put a star on top. Or an angel."

"Yeah, I didn't see that," Charming sighed. Then he went to look at another tree.

On the next row, Henry saw a tree that looked pretty good. It was not too tall and had thick green branches and was sort of pear shaped. "Hey, Dad! Look at this one! I think it looks perfect!"

Bae trotted through the gap in the trees to see what Henry was going on about. "This one looks real good," he said, walking about the tree to see it from different angles. "I think this is a Scotch pine."

"I think Mom will like this one," Henry said, smiling at it.

Bae tested a branch out by hanging his key ring from it, and seeing how it bent under the weight. The branch bent, but not as much as he thought. "Hmm . . . not bad."

"Can we get it?" his son asked eagerly.

"Yeah, I think we should, tiger," Bae nodded, then he took a yellow ribbon out of his pocket and jumped up and tied it to a branch, marking it as theirs.

Two rows over, Rumple had picked out a stately blue spruce which was at least eight feet tall and had long tapering branches, but they were sturdy and thick. It also was a lovely frosted blue along the ends of the branches, and Rumple thought Belle would love it.

"Grandpa!" called Henry as he came through the trees looking for his grandfather. "Hey, that's a wicked looking tree!"

"You think? I hope Belle will like it," Rumple said.

"I think she will," Henry said. Then he yelled, "Dad! Gramps! See the tree Grandpa picked."

Soon Bae trotted through the trees and came upon his son and father. "That's a nice one, Papa. I think it'll look great in your den."

"I agree," Charming said, looking at it with approval.

"Then I'll take it," Rumple decided, and he levitated himself so he could tie the yellow ribbon around the tree.

David walked back over to the row where Regina was playing under the pine tree. The child was singing "Jingle Bells" and pretending to roast something on a pretend fire with a stick. The mayor smiled at his daughter, then went to see a tree further down the row.

Regina was bored, however, playing campfire, and as she looked up from her little game, saw something in the pine trees off to the right. It looked sort of like a deer . . . a baby one. "Ooh! Rudolph!" she squeaked, then she got up and ran over to where she'd seen the baby reindeer.

But the fawn, for it was a fawn that had been born early, saw the child running and turned and trotted away.

Regina pursued happily, calling, "Rudolph! Don't run away! I just want to pet you!"

The fawn bleated a little and continued onward down the other side of the trees.

David thought he'd found a very nice Douglas fir, nice and thick, and stout, big enough to put in the loft without it dominating their living space. "Hey, Regina, come and look at the tree I picked out."

When the child didn't respond after a few moments, David turned around to see what was keeping her . . . only to find she was gone!

"Aww hell! Regina! Where are you?" he called, hoping that she'd gotten up and found Rumple, Henry, or Bae. "Regina!"

He heard crashing in the row next to him and prayed it was Regina. But instead the other men came through and paused when they saw Charming alone. "Hey, have you seen Regina?"

"Why? I thought she was with you," Bae said, looking around.

"Wasn't she under that pine?" Rumple asked, looking over at it.

"Yeah, just two minutes ago," David said. "But now she's missing! We have to find her."

"Relax, Nolan," Rumple said, and patted David's shoulder. "She's probably right near here. Regina! Where have you gone, dearie?"

"Regina!" Henry called, trying to see where she might have gone by studying the tracks on the ground.

No answer.

Now David was frantic. He ran up and down the nearby rows, calling his daughter.

Rumple walked swiftly into the trees, looking and calling for his missing niece. Bae accompanied him, also searching. Rumple shook his head and muttered, half to himself, "God, but I'm too old to be running around after mischievous little brats."

Bae started laughing. "Uh . . . Papa, you _do_ remember you're having twins, right?"

"Shut up, Baelfire!" Rumple groaned, a horrified expression stealing over his face. "I hope your new one drives you nuts too."

They continued searching and calling for about five minutes when Henry came up and said, "Grandpa, did you try summoning her?"

"No, lad. I don't use magic on children." Rumple said. "Regina! It's time to go home."

Still no sign of her.

They decided to split up into small groups and search.

Henry thought about using his own magic to find her, but decided that if Rumple weren't doing so yet, he'd better not either, considering his grandfather's rules. Instead, he tried to think of where the little girl could have wandered off to.

He looked around and tried to figure out what could have enticed the toddler to wander away and figured it'd have to be something like a wild animal, like a squirrel, bird, or maybe a baby bunny or something. Regina liked animals, even though she sometimes held them too hard, like poor Nala, she didn't really mean to hurt them.

He looked on the ground, trying to see if there were any animal tracks. His new friend, Ash Fox, had been trying to teach him how to track animals, when they weren't busy working taking care of the turkeys at Fox's farm. Henry noticed that there were deer tracks nearby and thought maybe Regina had run after a deer.

He started to follow the tracks into the stand of firs, just as Rumple came and said from behind him, "Henry, where are you going? I don't want you to become lost too."

"Grandpa, I think Regina might be chasing a wild animal, like a deer," Henry told the older sorcerer. He explained his theory.

"Yes, that would make sense," Rumple agreed. "Okay, time for you to learn a new spell. This will help us follow those deer tracks and hopefully Regina as well."

Rumple showed Henry how to cast a spell that sharpened and beckoned the caster to find the tracks on the ground, lighting their way with a purple light around them. Together, the two magicians followed the deer tracks into the trees.

After about ten minutes, they found a small clearing and saw to their relief and shock, Regina cuddling up to a fawn!

"Grandpa!" Henry gasped. "Look at that!"

Rumple came and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know, dearie. Thank goodness we found her and she's safe and sound. And what a lovely picture that'll make." He took out his phone and snapped a picture. Then he sighed and said, "And now it's time for me to get our little naturalist to go home."

"Oh boy! That's not going to be easy," Henry groaned.

Rumple grimaced too, then he walked forward out of the trees, moving so gracefully across the grass that the fawn and Regina didn't notice him until he was nearly on top of them.

The fawn saw him first, and it jerked out of Regina's arms and ran, its little tail flashing like a star as it bounded off.

"No!" Regina wailed. "Rudolph, come back! Don't be scared. It's just Unca Rumple." She went to dart after the fleeing fawn, but Rumple lunged and grabbed her before she could do so.

"Hey, dearie. You can't keep that fawn, and we've been going crazy looking for you, little girl."

Regina burst into loud sobs and struggled to get down. "No-o! Unca Rumple, you a'scared Rudolph! I was pettin' him an' now he runned away!"

"Sorry, dearie. But that baby has to go back to his mama, and you need to come back and let your daddy see you're all right." Rumple said, trying to hold onto the wriggling toddler, and wincing because she was screeching in his ear and squirming and kicking like a hooked fish.

"Lemme go! I don't like you no more!"

"Regina—oww!" he cried, as her foot kicked him hard in the stomach.

"Lemme down!" the irate toddler howled, her face red. "You is mean an' nasty an' Santa ain't bringing you nothin' for Cwistmas!"

Henry almost choked to death giggling upon hearing that come out of her mouth, but then he shook his head, knowing full well what such behavior was going to get his small relative.

"Excuse me, young lady?" Rumple demanded, and he held the child even more tenaciously. "Santa won't bring you anything for Christmas unless you quit this bratty behavior, Regina Nolan! Now stop kicking me, or else!"

But Regina was furious, and not minded to listen to anything Rumple said at that point, and since kicking hadn't done any good, she decided to try something new . . . so she sank her teeth into Rumple's arm.

"Oww! You _bit _ me!" the sorcerer yelped. He hadn't been prepared for that, since neither of his children had been biters, and he almost let her go from shock. But then he tucked her under an arm and snapped his fingers, conjuring a bench out of the air. "Young lady, you do _not_ bite me, I don't care how mad you are. Or kick me either," he scolded sternly, sitting down on the bench. His arm throbbed and he wondered if she had broken the skin.

Henry put a hand to his mouth, watching, and muttered, "Ouch! Now you've really done it, kid."

Rumple set the still screeching Regina on his lap and then began counting to ten in his head, trying to calm down before he punished her. Regina, suddenly realizing just what she'd done, began crying for an entirely different reason. "Unca Rumple, I sorry!"

"I hope so, dearie. Now you've hurt my arm. And you're in serious trouble," he said firmly.

"No-o! I sorry!" she bawled, knowing perfectly well what was coming.

Rumple set his jaw. Then he placed her over his knee, and said, "Don't ever bite me again, young lady. That's very naughty and you're lucky I'm not calling up Santa this very minute and telling him about this."

"No! Unca Rumple! Don't tell Santa! I be good!" the little imp cried, then she wailed as he smacked her bottom.

She kicked and squirmed to no avail, Rumple held her firmly, giving her four stinging swats, ignoring her howls. Oh, how she wished she'd never bitten him, for she was sure her bottom was on fire.

But it was over rather quickly, and then she was being hugged by him, and she clung to his neck and wept stormily for about two minutes while he patted her back.

"Unca Rumple, I sorry I bited you!" she hiccupped remorsefully.

He gently sat her up and wiped her face with a tissue he'd had in his pocket, saying, "That's good, dearie, now don't do it again and I won't have to punish you."

"Does you arm hurt?"

He waved a hand over it and said, "Not much anymore," healing it.

She contritely kissed his cheek and snuggled with him for a few moments before he rose and said, "Let's go find your papa, sweetheart. He's probably calling up Emma to send out a search party."

"No, I called him and told him we found her, Grandpa," Henry said, as they came up to him.

"Thank you, Henry," Rumple said gratefully.

David and Bae met them just as they came out of the trees.

"Regina! Thank God!" David said, and took the little girl from Rumple and hugged her. "Don't ever wander off like that again, you hear me? Or else I'm going to tie you to me with a leash!"

"I sorry, Daddy. But I was pettin' Rudolph an' Unca Rumple a'scared him away an' I got mad an' bit Unca Rumple an' he spanked me," she sniffled woefully.

"You _bit_ your uncle?" David cried. "Regina Nolan! You know you don't bite. That's a terrible thing to do. I'm very disappointed in you. Rumple, are you okay?"

"Fine. Now let's get you a tree," the sorcerer said.

Bae shook his head, then looked at his son. "I hope your little brother or sister isn't this much trouble at that age."

"Dad, he or she's probably gonna be worse," Henry predicted.

Bae just groaned. "Don't jinx us, tiger . . . please!"

David started to go over to the tree he'd picked out when Regina cried, "No, Daddy! I want that one!"

David followed her finger and saw a scraggly Scotch pine. "Regina? Why would you want that tree?"

"'Cause it's lonely an' needs some love," she answered.

"It needs a makeover too," Rumple muttered.

"Aww, come on, honey!" David said. "Let's get this one instead, see how nice and full the branches are and—"

"No, Daddy! _This_ one!" she insisted, wearing her Royal Stubborn face, as Alina called it.

David wanted to hit himself in the head. "This is what I get for letting her watch _A Charlie Brown Christmas_." He tried to persuade her several more times to get the tree he'd originally picked out, but Regina seemed adamant that he "save" the poor unwanted Scotch pine.

"She's more like Snow than anybody realizes," David sighed, giving in and tying the ribbon around it.

"You know . . . that wouldn't look half bad . . . if you turned half of it around to face the wall," Bae remarked, his eyes twinkling.

"Ah, shut up, Baelfire!" David growled. "And you too, Rumple!"

He was smirking, and so was Henry.

David just groaned, and hoped that the tree would be able to handle some ornaments on it without falling over. Or maybe they could just put cranberries and popcorn on it? He hoped Snow and the girls were having a good time shopping.

**Rumple's Recipe Corner**

**Regina's Reindeer Food Snack Mix**

9 cups Corn Chex®, Rice Chex®, Wheat Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.

In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.

Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.


	4. Holiday Madness

**4**

**Holiday Madness**

**A/N: Okay, this chapter is dedicated to all my fellow retail workers who worked Black Friday and Black Friday weekend out there(like I did). Let's make a deal, dearies, and let the holiday madness begin!**

The Gold girls decided to go to the mall in nearby Rock Springs, figuring they could always return to Storybrooke later and get in some shopping there if things didn't work out at the mall. Emma had warned Snow, Belle, and Alina that the stores were going to be crowded, stuffed full of people like sardines in a can, but even with that warning, they were still shocked beyond belief at the holiday madness that had gripped people on this busiest shopping day of the year.

Alina and Snow had only been through Black Friday in Storybrooke, which was hardly like Black Friday in every other major town in America. Black Friday in Storybrooke was like a busy day at the mall compared to Black Friday in Rock Springs, which hustled and bustled with thousands of people, all of them jostling, pushing, and growling at each other while their kids pointed, screamed, and whined about everything from wanting a certain toy to wanting something to eat to needing to go to the bathroom before they peed their pants.

Snow cringed at the noise level upon entering the doors of the mall. The sheer volume was deafening, and they weren't even inside the mall proper, just on the outskirts, where people were waiting in endless lines that wrapped about the building.

"What's going on here?" Belle half-yelled in her ear. "The sale of the century?" She had one hand on her huge belly and the other in a death grip on Alina.

"They sure think so!" Snow replied, her voice raised several octaves in order to be heard above the tumult of children and adults all talking and crying at once.

"Mama, this is crazy!" Alina said, staring about her. "Is every person in Maine over here at the mall?"

"Hardly, kid," Emma laughed. "And if you think this is bad, you ought to see Boston."

"I feel like we're in the middle of an anthill," Alina remarked. "And we're the sandwich about to get chomped on and eaten." She was suddenly very grateful for the protection spell her papa had placed upon them before they'd left that morning.

People were pressing in on her from the back and sides, and suddenly she was worried about Belle. She knew her mama had nearly overcome her fear of small spaces, but she never did well in crowds and this was extremely crowded. She gripped Belle's hand and stood up and whispered into Belle's ear, "Mama, are you okay?"

Belle nodded tightly. She could feel some of the old panic start to rise in her, but beat it back with some hastily taken deep breaths and her reciting of her mantra, centering herself and reminding herself that this would pass, she was not trapped in a room with dozens of people crushing her.

Emma eyed Belle and said, "Come on, let's try and keep moving. I think there's a spot over here."

She calmly started walking, staying just ahead of Belle and Alina, and trying to forge a path through all the shoppers, saying, "Excuse me, pregnant woman coming through here." She grinned wryly as she said that, for though she was talking about Belle, she could just as easily have meant herself. She absently rubbed her still flat tummy and thought about the new life growing in her. And unlike last time, she would be with Bae through everything and not be trapped in a jail cell. _And you, little baby, will be able to know your mom and dad right from the get go, like it should be._ Just thinking about her baby made a warm glow start inside her.

She adored her son, but the fact that she could know her baby from the beginning made her deliriously happy. It was kind of the way she supposed Belle felt with her twins.

There were signs all over the place, advertising sales of 50-75% off various things in all the stores and people were lined up around several of them, impatiently waiting to get the hot new sale items. Some were bleary from lack of sleep, others bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Some held cups of coffee in their hands.

Emma finally got them all out of the crush of people and into one of the main parts of the mall, near the food court and a large map that lit up and said "You Are Here" with an arrow pointing to where they were. The mall's lights were bright and glary and some delicious smells of cinnamon, cocoa, and baked goods were wafting over from the food court.

Emma peered at the directory, trying to decide where she wanted to shop first. She had on her standard red leather jacket, a cream-colored turtle-neck, jeans and her boots. Beside her, Snow was wearing a white swing coat, pink sweater, and black pants with soft leather half-boots. Belle had on a pretty indigo blue sweater, a soft woolen skirt of winter white and fuzzy merino sheepskin slippers, as well as her Louie Vutton gray pea coat. Next to her was Alina, in her Jordache jeans, Reeboks, and pink sweatshirt with a teacup on it. She had on a salmon pink North Face jacket with faux white fur on the hood.

"Okay. Where should we go first?" asked Snow, examining the directory.

"I think we should get some coffee," Belle said.

"Or hot cocoa," Emma nodded, and so the first place they went was Starbucks.

Then, armed with coffee, they stopped first in a Christmas store, and bought some ornaments for their new trees. Snow bought an ornament of a horse that she could put a picture of Regina in, and had them write Regina's name on it and the year. Belle bought a Baby's 1st Christmas ornament twice and Alina picked out a Beauty and the Beast ornament. Emma chose a Lennox ornament which was two bells and it said _Our First Christmas_ in gold script and also one for Henry with a book that read _Fairy Tales Do Come True_.

Emma also bought some lights for her tree, a star, tinsel, a tree skirt, and a stand. Snow bought a new tree skirt and a better stand and an angel for the top of their tree. Belle didn't need anything like that since Rumple and Alina already had those things. However, she did buy Emma and Bae some very nice silver and gold plated stars and some lovely colored spun glass balls for their tree. Snow told Emma she had some ornaments from Regina's house that Henry had made and they belonged to Emma now.

"We can go to the nursery once we're back in Storybrooke and get some swags and mistletoe, ribbons, and wreaths," Snow said.

"Maybe I should tell Bae to get some lights to decorate the dojo with," Emma thought.

"You can get those at the nursery too," Belle said. "Rumple has some from there."

"And we have a light-up Santa with his sleigh and reindeer on the lawn," Alina said.

After the Christmas store, they went to various other shops, getting some great deals on clothes for Charming, Bae, Regina, and Henry. Belle even got some new ties for Rumple, including a red and green Ferragamo wreath one for him to wear on Christmas. She also bought him a beautiful diamond eternity knot tie pin from Alina.

They stopped at a kiosk that sold pretty holographic paperweights with pictures in them, and Snow got one for David of herself and Emma together, and Belle got one for Rumple of herself and Alina. Emma had a picture of Henry with her, and the photographer did some quick work with his Photoshop program and created one with her and Henry for Bae.

They went to the Macys perfume counter and got deals on perfumes for themselves and aftershave for the men. They came to the DVD store and got Henry a season of Stargate SG, Emma bought Bae the entire collection of X-Men and new Batman movies, Snow got David a collection of Errol Flynn films, and Belle bought Rumple _The Hobbit_, and extended versions of _The Lord of the Rings_, and Alina _the Mortal Instruments_ while her daughter was buying _Please Don't Eat the Daisies, With Six You Get Eggroll,_ and _The Ghost and Mrs. Muir_ for Belle.

Then they were all starving, and had to go to the food court and eat something. Belle and Alina had Chinese from Jade Palace, and Emma and Snow shared a cheesesteak and fries from Sbarro's. They also bought a box of Cinnabons for Henry and Bae with extra icing, and large pretzels for Charming, Regina, and Rumple.

Snow passed a candy store and they all went inside and bought special candy for their families, and Belle bought dried fruit and nut trail mix and some Moose Munch for Rumple, who snacked on them at his shop or in his study when he worked on accounts.

They came to Toys R'Us and Snow told Emma about how Rumple had bought Regina the Barbie Dream House for Christmas, and then she and Emma picked out some more furniture for it and Alina bought her the Holiday Barbie family and a Barbie Fairy horse from Henry.

Snow also picked out a small bassinet and a stroller for Sofia as well as some different doll clothes.

"My God, I think my arms are gonna fall off!" Emma groaned, as she picked up her packages.

"Here, Emma," Alina whispered, and she cast a small charm on the packages that made them light as a feather to carry.

"Gee, thanks, kid!" Emma smirked, and did the same for the others' packages.

Their last stop was at Barnes and Noble, which was right next to the food court, and attached to the mall. By then, all of the girls' feet were killing them and Belle needed a restroom for the third time in an hour and a half, since the twins were jumping on her bladder something terrible. "I think they're having a karate tournament in there or something," she joked to Emma as they both walked to the restroom in the bookstore. "Maybe they think they're Chuck Norris' kids or something."

While Emma and Belle were using the restroom, Snow and Alina were buying several gift cards for everyone—the "gift of choice" as the advertisements put it, and with each purchase of $75 worth of gifts cards, also got a free one for $10. Since most of their family were voracious readers, especially on the Gold side, that was the best gift ever invented, according to Alina, who bought a gift card for Henry, Belle, and Bae. She also bought a game for David, a lovely cookbook for Snow, and a pretty Christmas throw for Emma which went along with her Godiva gourmet hot cocoa.

"Alina, you're not using your own money for this, are you?" Snow asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Uh, Papa gave me an allowance to spend on presents," the eleven-year-old replied.

"An allowance?"

"Yup. He just reached into his pocket and gave me whatever cash he had in there this morning," Alina replied. "It was . . . umm . . . around five hundred dollars."

Snow almost passed out. "You've been carrying around all that cash?"

"No, I gave it to Mama. But then she gave me whatever I needed to pay for stuff," Alina said. "I still have a lot of it left, even after Papa's present."

Snow chuckled. "You're Rumple's daughter all right, sweetie."

Alina smiled proudly. "He taught me how to make good deals all the time, wherever I shop for stuff."

"I guess that's what comes of being poor once. You learn how to save for a rainy day," Snow said. "Me, I'm not that great with money, since I never really learned how to manage it when I was a princess, and when I was a refugee living with the dwarves, they were the ones who handled it. I tend to go over my budget, even now with David helping me."

"Maybe you need to talk with Papa, Snow," Alina said thoughtfully. "He could teach you a few tricks. He taught Mama how to manage her own checking account when she started working as the head librarian."

"That's an idea, Alina. I'll have to see when I have time to do that, maybe over the holiday break," Snow agreed.

"I can't wait!" Alina said excitedly. "Not that I don't like school, but . . . this Christmas is going to be so much fun!"

"I'm looking forward to it too," Snow said. "It'll be my first Christmas with my husband and daughters . . . and all the rest of the family."

"Shopping, baking, decorating," Alina recited, smiling happily.

"Singing Christmas carols and making snowmen."

"Sledding and making gingerbread houses."

"Sending Christmas cards."

"Working at the convent in the soup kitchen," Alina recited. "I know that's supposed to be like a punishment, but it's a good thing too, helping people. And playing secret Santa with Papa."

"What do you mean?" Snow asked, puzzled.

"Umm . . . well . . . during the holiday season, Papa leaves anonymous donations on the porch steps of some of the families in town. Like food baskets and clothes and sometimes toys and money in envelopes," Alina whispered in her ear.

"He . . . does?"

"Uh huh. He always has, ever since I can remember. And when I was little, Alice helped him with it, but I've done baskets with him since I was about six or seven and it's always been a secret between us three. Five now that you and Mama know about it."

"Wow! Who would have thought? Your papa's just full of surprises," Snow said.

Alina nodded. "Once I asked him why he didn't let people know what he was doing and he said that it's easier for people to accept help if they don't know who was giving it and otherwise they might think they owed him something. But I think . . . I think it's also his way of . . . making up for some of the bad things the Dark One curse made him do."

"I think maybe you're right," Snow murmured.

Belle and Emma came out of the restroom and they spent the next few minutes wandering about the bookstore, exclaiming over the displays and the books, many of which were on sale.

Belle bought quite a few books for herself and Rumple, and Emma found a new author she thought Bae would like called Brom, who wrote a book called The Child Thief, which was an adult version of the Peter Pan story, who also illustrated his own work.

"Okay, I think we've all shopped until we're ready to drop," Emma said afterwards, having gotten a Member Card as well as a series called Artemis Fowl for Henry along with Bae's book and a book on baby names for herself.

"I'm about to collapse," Belle admitted.

"So let's head home," Snow said.

As they made their way through the mall, they saw evidence of the shopping frenzy gripping people, as on one line a woman pushed another woman out of the way to get to a rack of clothing outside a store first, a child threw himself on the floor and started howling for something, and two men nearly came to blows over who was first in line to get the new Ninja food processor at Sears.

"People are crazy!" Snow gasped as she saw the women fighting.

"It's like some kind of disease," Belle said, shaking her head.

"I think it's because people have lost sight of what Christmas really means," Emma remarked. "It's not about getting things, it's about giving things, and sharing the joy of the season."

Alina stared at the child throwing a tantrum and said, "What a spoiled brat! He's old enough to know better." The little boy was around five or six. "If I'd ever done that, Papa would've spanked me good when we got home. If you behave like a spoiled brat that's all you deserve," she quoted softly.

"So would mine," Snow agreed.

As they made their way out the main doors to the parking lot, a young man with dirty blond hair wearing a blue jacket and jeans brushed past them, bumping into Belle.

"Oops! Sorry, ma'am!" he apologized as he hurried past.

"That's okay," Belle said. "It was an accident." She shifted a bag on her shoulder and went to get the keys out of her purse. "Oh my God! I've been robbed. My purse . . . it's _gone_!"

They all stared at each other, and then Alina exclaimed, "Mama, that guy stole your purse!"

"He's getting away," Snow cried.

Emma looked ahead of them, and saw the purse snatcher turning the corner of the building. "Like hell he is!" She sprinted after the thief.

Alina scowled and made a beckoning motion.

Suddenly the thief was yanked backwards as Belle's purse was summoned by Alina.

Before the man could react to the purse dragging him backwards, Emma tackled him to the ground. "Freeze, mister!" she snapped, forgetting for a moment she didn't have her cuffs or wasn't in Storybrooke. She had the thief in an arm lock before he knew what she was about, one knee in the small of his back and had pulled his hands behind his back.

The thief yelped and cried, "Hey, you nuts, lady?"

"No, I'm a cop and you just robbed my relative," Emma growled. "Plus, she's pregnant with twins. How low can you get, snatching a pregnant lady's purse during this time of the year?"

"Aww, crap!" groaned the thief.

"Emma, I just called 911," Snow reported, glaring at the thief on the ground.

Alina came and took the purse from the thief before it started tugging on him again. She was mad enough to spit nails. "You're disgusting!" she snapped. "Robbing my mama like that. You're lucky my papa and brother aren't here, 'cause you'd be smushed flat like a bug right now. You ought to be thrown where the sun don't shine, mister." Her fingers twitched convulsively as she fought to keep from cursing the wretch.

Belle came up and took the purse from Alina, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Alina, don't," she whispered into her daughter's ear. "He's not worth the price you'll pay . . . let the police handle it." Though she silently agreed with Alina . . . if Rumple or Bae had been there, the guy would be decorating the pavement . . . or joining the population of insects crawling on the sidewalk.

In a few minutes, mall security and a police car had driven up, and one officer handcuffed the thief and put him in the backseat of his squad car, while his partner began to question Belle, Emma, and Snow.

It turned out that the guy was more than just a pickpocket, he was a professional they'd been trying to catch for months now, who'd been snatching people's purses and wallets at the mall.

"It's amazing that he was finally caught . . . and by a woman cop, no less!" said the police officer, smiling at Emma.

"Not only that, but she's pregnant too," Snow informed them.

"Whoa! If that isn't poetic justice I don't know what is," laughed the officer.

"And my husband's an attorney," Belle stated.

The officer smirked. "I'd feel sorry for the idiot, but he got exactly what he deserved . . . and then some."

They took statements from Belle, Emma, Snow, and Alina before hauling the thief away and congratulating Emma on her timely apprehension of the suspect.

As they all got in their cars afterwards, Emma said, "I can't wait to see Bae's face when I tell him about what happened."

"Or Rumple's," Belle said.

"I hope the guys had fun with Regina picking out a tree," Snow said. "Though they probably had a less exciting time than we did."

Alina just yawned, she was feeling tired since she had cast two spells in the space of two hours, and hoped that Rumple had picked out a pretty tree. One thing was certain. There was never a dull moment on Black Friday.

**A/N: Just a note, Rumple's spell protects against things like getting trampled or stepped on or pushed, not from thieves snatching purses. Okay, now who wants to help me pick out names for Emma and Bae's baby? Boy or girl, just give me a few, thanks!**

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Almond Crescent Tea Cookies**

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cupgranulated sugar

1 teaspoonvanilla extract

2 teaspoons almond extract

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup ground almonds

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2 Spray several cookie sheets with cooking spray.

3 With a mixer, beat the butter with sugar until light and fluffy.

4 Add vanilla extract and almond extract, beat until incorporated.

5 Stir in the flour and almonds. Work flour mixture into a firm dough.

6 Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, shape a long in the middle is thicker than both ends. Bend dough log into a crescent shape.

7 Place on greased cookie sheets and repeat until all dough is used.

8 Bake 12-15 minutes or until light brown.

9 Sift powdered sugar into a small shallow bowl.

10 While the cookies are still warm , roll the crescents in the powdered sugar.

11 Cool on racks.


	5. The Elf on the Shelf

**5**

**The Elf on the Shelf**

They all met up at Gold's Victorian after the long day of shopping and tree picking. As Emma got out of Belle's car and started unloading her packages from the trunk into Bae's Escape, which had the tree he and Henry had picked wrapped neatly on top of it, her husband stared at her and said, "Hon, what'd you do, buy out half the mall?"

"They had some good sales, Bae," she replied, shoving the bags into the trunk of his car.

"Must have," he said, one eyebrow raised.

"And guess what else happened, Bae?" Alina cried, bursting with excitement. She glanced over at her sister-in-law. "Emma, can I tell him?"

"Go ahead, kid," the sheriff said, shrugging.

"What happened, Alina?" Bae asked, suddenly wary.

"We were all going out to the parking lot and Mama went to get her keys and . . . some scumbag stole her purse, Bae! Like that!" she snapped her fingers for emphasis. "And then I tried to summon it back to me, but Emma ran after the thief and she slammed him right on the floor, just like Chuck Norris! It was like wicked awesome! Thieves don't steal from Sheriff Gold, Sheriff Gold steals thieves' freedom . . . and kicks their butts."

"My God, wild swan! You stopped a robbery _and_ went and shopped till you drop?" Bae whistled. "It's like a new record for you. Work and play, the Emma Gold way."

Emma looked embarrassed. "Shoot, Bae. It's not like I could just sit there and watch that . . . piece of trash make off with Belle's purse. I mean, it had Rumple's Black Amex in there and stuff. Plus, what kind of scum robs a pregnant lady during the Christmas season?"

"A real lowlife, dearie," Rumple said, coming up to them. "Belle told me what you did, Emma. Thank you for it . . . and that bottomfeeder's lucky he didn't hurt my wife when he took her purse . . . otherwise he'd be fish food right now." The sorcerer's eyes flashed with a sudden terrible light. An instant later it was gone, but it made both Emma and Bae shiver slightly.

"Yeah, and if that'd happened, he'd have every finger he owned broken and both his kneecaps," Bae added sharply.

"I hope he gets a lot of jail time, Papa," Alina said angrily, coming to hug her parent. "You gonna sue his butt off?"

"I should, dearie. And will, if I knew specifics," Gold said, his arm around his daughter.

"I can get them for you," Emma said.

"Good. I'd appreciate that," he said, then he waved toward the house. "How about you come inside and we'll have some dinner? Alice wanted to come over and make some of her special lemon garlic wine chicken and rice pilaf, so why don't you have some with us? Unless you're too tired and want to go home and rest?" he said to her solicitously.

"Nah. I'm good, Rumple," Emma said, smiling at her father-in-law. "Besides, I'd never turn down Alice's cooking."

"Yeah, then I know you were crazy, hon," Bae said, and kissed her.

"Mom, we had some excitement too," Henry added, coming up and trying to peek into the packages she was putting in the trunk.

"Get your sneaky little nose out of there, mister!" his mother ordered, giving him a tap on the butt. "Or else Santa's going to put you on his naughty list sure enough."

"Hey! I just was going to—" her son objected.

"Ah ah, tiger," Bae shook his finger at his son. "You'd better watch out."

"Better not cry," Alina added with an impish smirk at her nephew.

"Better not pout," Emma recited the familiar line, giving Henry a wink.

"Mom!" Henry cried.

"Because Santa Claus is coming to town," Rumple finished, ruffling his grandson's hair.

"Help! My family's Christmas carol nerds!" Henry yelled, rolling his eyes.

"We're what?" Emma gasped, frowning.

"Watch your mouth, boy!" Rumple ordered.

"Yeah. Last time somebody called me a nerd I did this to him," Bae mock-growled, and grabbed his son in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

"Da-a-d!" his son yelped. "Okay . . . I take it back!"

"Teach that boy some manners, Baelfire," Rumple said, with a wicked smirk.

"Please, Dad! Mercy!" Henry begged, trying to avoid his father's hand.

"You going to behave?"

"Uh . . . yeah . . . promise!"

"Okay then," Bae released him.

Henry gave him a rather insolent pout, muttering, "You messed up my hair."

"You need a haircut," Emma observed.

"I'll take him to get one tomorrow," Bae said.

"Aww, _Dad_!" Henry groaned. "I like my hair the way it is."

"Henry, you look like a shaggy dog," Emma began.

"Do not. I want it long . . . like Grandpa's."

"Excuse me? My hair is nothing like that!" Gold objected. "You know, Bae . . . why don't you save yourself a trip and _we_ can cut his hair. I've got a pair of garden shears. You hold him down and I'll start snipping, like I do when I trim your mama's rose bushes . . ."

Henry gaped at him. "You do and . . . I'll tell Grammy!"

"When? After I snip you bald?" Gold snickered.

"Either way, you're getting a haircut," Emma said firmly. "Now, what were you going to tell me about getting a Christmas tree?"

"Well, we were all picking out a tree and Regina ran away and was chasing a fawn, she thought it was Rudolph, so Grandpa and I went to find her. And when we found her, she wouldn't come with Grandpa and when he picked her up she _bit_ him."

"No way, Rumple!" Emma gaped.

"I'm afraid so, dearie. Sank her pearly whites right here," he indicated his right arm.

Emma winced. "Ouch! That must have been a shock."

He nodded. "It was. For me and for her, since after I warmed her behind for it. But she won't be doing that again."

"I bit one of my foster mothers once," Emma recalled. "She put Tabasco sauce in my mouth and I never did it again."

"Biting's a nasty habit," Bae said. "But I don't think I ever bit you, did I, Papa?"

"No. You or Alina," Rumple said. "Now let's go inside, before Alice comes out and tells us we're eating cold porridge instead of her chicken."

**Page~*~*~*~Break**

Snow wasn't too upset about Regina picking out the "Charlie Brown" tree, as David referred to it. She said it showed character and they could decorate it lightly with ornaments and tinsel and it would look just fine in their den. She was more upset that Regina had bit Rumple.

"I can't believe she's acting out like this, David. It's going to be Christmas in a month, and we shouldn't be letting her get away with that sort of behavior," she said later on that night in their room, after they had returned home to their loft and put their daughter to bed.

"We didn't, Snow," David pointed out. "Rumple spanked her, just like I would've if she'd bitten me."

"I know . . . I'm just worried that this might become a . . . trend or something. I know she's a little girl and they go through these phases . . . I just don't want her being naughty and getting punished all through the holidays."

"Hey, if she acts up, what else can we do?" David sighed. "I'm not raising a problem child."

"Maybe . . . maybe there's something we could do to prevent that," Snow mused. Then she recalled something she'd seen at Barnes and Noble on her shopping spree. "And I think I know just the thing . . . now I just need to use your computer."

"What for?" asked her husband, puzzled.

"You'll see," she said mysteriously. "I'd better order three though."

"Three what?"

"You'll find out," his wife answered.

"What is this, Snow, some kind of new parenting book?" Charming groaned. "You know half of what they say doesn't work on Regina."

"But I think this will. Now quit worrying and just kiss me, Charming," she ordered.

David was only too happy to comply with that.

**Page~*~*~*~Break**

Three days later a large box arrived from Barnes and Noble at the Charming's loft. David was home when it came, but was under strict instructions from Snow not to open it until she got there.

"What's that, Daddy?" Regina asked after he had carried the box inside.

"I don't know, punkin'," he said. "Something your mommy ordered for Christmas, I'll bet."

Regina peered at it curiously. "Like what? Dek'rations?"

"Could be. We'll have to wait till Mommy comes home from school to find out," David said. Today was Tuesday, his one half-day at the town hall, and he'd picked up Regina early from Ashley's house and brought her home after stopping for a burger at Granny's.

"Daddy, I'm hungwy," Regina said, lisping a little as she sometimes did when she got excited.

"Okay, princess. You want some cheese and peanut butter crackers?"

"No. I wanna make cookies."

"Cookies?"

"Uh huh. Like we made at Auntie Alice's house yesterday. We made bells an' trees an' holly sugar cookies for Cwistmas!"

"Uh . . . Daddy can't bake like Auntie Alice," David coughed. Nobody could, really, but the only thing he was really good at was using a microwave. Then he recalled something he'd picked up at the supermarket yesterday. "But we can still make cookies, Regina. Rudolph cookies."

"We can? Where, Daddy? I wanna make Rudolph cookies!" she shrieked.

"They're in here," David went and grabbed the tray of reindeer Christmas cookies made by Pillsbury. They were so simple a child of three could help make them . . . or a clueless wonder like David was in the kitchen.

Together, he and Regina sliced the cookies from a premade roll, and put them on the cookie sheets. Then they slid them into the oven for twelve minutes.

To David' surprise, the cookies came out just right, and Regina clapped as he put them on some racks to cool and turned off the oven.

"Yay! Rudolph cookies!" she cheered, and nearly burned her hand trying to eat one right out of the oven.

"Whoa, princess!" David cried, grabbing her hand before she could touch it. "You've got to wait and let 'em cool a bit. Otherwise you'll burn yourself."

Regina sighed impatiently as she waited for the cookies to cool.

Just as her patience was about to evaporate, Snow came in through the door. "Hi, honey, I'm home!" she called cheerily, hanging her coat up on he rack. "Mmm! What smells so good?"

"Cookies, Mommy!" Regina cried, and jumped off the chair she'd been kneeling on and ran to hug her mother. "Daddy an' I made Cwistmas cookies!"

"How wonderful!" Snow said, hugging her back. "I can't wait to taste them."

"And lookit, Mommy! A package came for you!" Regina informed her, tugging her hand to show her where David had put it.

Snow smiled secretively. "Great! Now let's eat some cookies and then . . . then we'll see what came in the mail."

After they had all eaten some milk and cookies, Snow asked David to start decorating the tree with Regina while she opened the mysterious package.

"Snow, just what the he—err . . . heck is in there?" David queried, quietly going insane from curiosity.

"Just . . . go decorate the tree, David," she said, shooing him away as she knelt beside the package with the box cutter. "You'll see in a bit. And make sure you don't use the heavy ornaments, okay?"

"Okay," he said, and then took Regina into the den, where their little droopy Scotch pine was, and said, "Regina, you help me pick out what needs to go on the tree, okay?"

"Daddy, how 'bout this one?" she held up a paper cut out of a snowman she had made with Ashley's help on Monday.

"Beautiful! We'll put that right here," the former prince said, and together he and his small daughter began to decorate their wimpy little tree.

Snow quickly opened the package and took out a white box with some red and green trim. She swiftly hid the other two boxes under her bed so Regina wouldn't see them, then went and opened the box and took two things out of it. One she put up on the little shelf in the kitchen, the other she tucked under her arm and went into the den holding.

For a few moments, she watched as her husband and daughter bonded over decorating their homely little tree, which didn't look half so bad after they'd put several pretty homemade ornaments and light Christmas balls and beads on it, which David wound in a string about the tree.

She smiled as her little girl and her soulmate ran back and forth and picked out small pretty stars, ribbons, and other things to make their tree look festive. When she thought enough time had passed, she came forward and said, "Regina, look what I've got for you. It's a new Christmas story for us to read."

Regina turned to see what Snow was holding. "Was that what was in the box?"

"It was one thing," Snow said, showing her the brightly colored picture book with the title _The Elf on the Shelf_. "See? This is a story about an elf . . . Santa's helper at the North Pole."

"Cool beans, Mommy!" the child yelled, and she went and jumped on the couch. "Let's read it!"

"Yeah, let's read it," David agreed, sensing that there was more to this book than met the eye.

And he was right.

Snow began to read the story of the scout elves, Santa's eyes and ears from the North Pole, who came to the families of all little boys and girls before Christmas, to help Santa determine who was naughty and who was nice, by reporting on all the day-to-day activities of each child in the house.

"A scout elf can be adopted by his or her family, and when a child names one and gives one a home, the elf gets special Christmas magic and can fly back and forth to the North Pole while their family sleeps," Snow read from the book. "They return before their children wake to watch and notice any good deeds the kids do . . . and also note any naughty ones. But they are also there for kids to talk to and tell Santa what they might like for Christmas, or questions they might have. You cannot touch a scout elf, or they'll lose their magic, but you can talk to them and they always listen. And when they return each day from the North Pole, they will always be found in a different spot in your house, for they enjoy playing hide-and-seek with you, and so you need to search for them every day until Christmas comes. An elf can travel anywhere to any house a child is in, so he or she can observe when a child behaves."

"Mommy, do we gots an elf?" Regina asked, her big dark eyes wide.

"Let's go see if we do," Snow encouraged, and she winked at David.

Regina ran all over the room looking and then she raced into the kitchen, where she halted and yelled, "Mommy! Daddy! She's here! The scout elf's in the kitchen!"

Snow and David came into the room, smiling upon seeing the little elf with her red suit and white puffed skirt with red snowflakes on it sitting on the shelf. The elf had brown hair and a red cap on, and bright blue eyes and a smiling face.

"Wow! I guess Santa wants to know how you've been behaving," David said.

"I be good, Daddy," the child said solemnly. "So's Santa brings me a puppy for Cwistmas."

"A . . . puppy?" Snow repeated, her eyes growing big. "Regina, I never knew you wanted a pet."

"Uh huh. I wanna puppy for Cwistmas," the toddler declared. "A little Dalmatian like Pongo. Ashley an' I watched 100 and One Dalmatians an' I wanna little spotted baby puppy. Only I gotta get Unca Rumple to cast a spell to keep Cruella 'way from here, so's she can't make skins n' coats outta my puppy. 'Cause that's 'sgusting!"

"You're right, that is disgusting, hurting a poor helpless animal," Snow agreed.

Regina nodded, then she pulled the chair against the counter and climbed up on it, near the shelf where the scout elf was sitting. "You'll tell Santa 'bout my puppy, okay? Mommy, what should we call her?"

"Uh . . . I don't know. David?"

"Umm . . . why don't you pick a name, Regina?" he said, at a loss.

Regina thought hard for a few minutes, then said, "I know, Daddy! Her name's Noel, like in the Cwistmas song I heard in the car with Unca Rumple."

"What song was that?" asked Snow.

Regina began to sing, "The first noel, the angels did sing . . ." she sang a few lines, all she could remember, of the tune, then said, "An' that's her name, Mommy."

"I think that's a beautiful name, baby," Snow said, thinking that now she had to go over to Gold's pawnshop and Fire Mountain as soon as she could to deliver the other two girl elves to Rumple and Emma. "Now why don't we go and register her online, sweetie? You can get an adoption certificate and a special letter from Santa too."

"Okay! An' after that I'll 'troduce her to Sofia an' tell Noel to tell Santa I sorry I bited Unca Rumple an' I'll never do it again," the toddler said solemnly.

"You'll what? Troduce her?" David repeated.

"You mean in-tro-duce her to Sofia," Snow corrected.

"Yup. That's what I said," Regina stated. "Cause I don't want nuthin' but coal an' rocks an' reindeer poop in my stocking on Cwistmas morning."

Snow and David hid chuckles behind their hands and then Snow went to boot up David's laptop, thanking the Lord that her plan seemed to be off to a good start.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

The next afternoon, Snow stopped by Gold's Pawnshop, and delivered Noel the Second to Rumple, who was busy hanging some garland on his counter. His bell was festooned with some holly and he had a wreath upon the door as well. "Rumple, I have something for you."

"What's this, dearie?" he asked as Snow handed him the elf. "Some decoration for my shop?"

"No, it's how to get Regina to behave this Christmas," Snow replied, and told Gold about the scout elves and what they did and how he had to take the elf home with him just in case Regina came over.

"I see. That's very clever, Snow," the former imp grinned, giving a slight giggle. "I like it, dearie! And Noel will have a home with me for the holiday." He tucked the little elf behind his counter.

Snow's next stop was Fire Mountain dojo, where she found Bae putting up some wreaths on the windows and some Christmas clings on the door. He also had a stuffed snowman sitting beside the desk, and a large poinsettia plant in the waiting room.

"Hey, Snow," he greeted her when she came in. "I'm just doing some quick decorating, though I need to do some lights on the outside. But I need to go and see if the ones I brought from Phoenix are still good, otherwise I might have to go buy some. How does this look?"

Snow glanced around at the room and said, "It looks very Christmasy, Bae. I like it and so will your students. And here's something else you'll like."

She gave Bae the third Noel, explaining what it was and how it worked.

Bae said he'd tell Emma and Henry about it later on when they came home, and put the elf in his back room until he went upstairs to the apartment.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

The next afternoon, Regina shoved open the door to Gold's shop, making the bell on the door jingle like crazy and yelling in her shrill soprano, "Unca Rumple! I's here!"

Rumple turned from dusting a picture frame and smiled at his niece. "Hello, little imp! What are you doing here, dearie?"

"I had to bring her here, Rumple," said David, following his daughter inside. "Ashley was watching her and Alexa's sick with some kind of virus and I didn't want Regina to catch it, plus it'd be too much trying to take care of a sick baby and my little scamp, so . . . I was wondering, can you watch her for an hour till I get off of work?"

"Sure I can, David," Rumple agreed. "It's not like I'm busy right now."

"I brought her coloring book and some crayons," her father said, and handed Rumple Regina's usual bag with her coloring book, crayons, Sofia, and a change of clothes, plus her sippy cup and a package of Goldfish. "I've got to get back to work, I ran out of a meeting to pick her up and I just . . . well, you know how it is."

"Go on, get back to work, Mayor. Regina and I will be fine," the pawnbroker said, and David went to hug and kiss his daughter goodbye before dashing off again.

Rumple turned to Regina, who was standing next to him. "Dearie, why don't you—"

"Unca Rumple, I gotta go potty," the child whimpered.

"Okay, you know where it is, right?" he said.

"I's scared."

"Of what?"

"That a frost monster might get me," she whimpered.

"A frost monster?"

"Uh huh. They hides an' jumps out at little girls an' eats their toes."

"They do? Well, no frost monsters will eat your toes while I'm around, dearie," Rumple reassured her. Then he took her hand and led her to his small bathroom. He walked in and inspected it quickly before saying, "All clear, imp. Now come on, before you have an accident."

Regina trotted into the bathroom, saying, "'Kay. Now you go 'way, 'cause I's a lady an' ladies need privacy."

Chuckling, Rumple left her in the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Regina emerged three minutes later, and by then someone had come in and was talking to Gold about getting an extension on his rent for the holidays.

The little girl went and tugged on Gold's jacket sleeve. "Unca Rumple!"

"Just a second, dearie," he said, then turned back to his customer. "So, you'd like to make me one down payment now of a hundred dollars and pay the balance after Christmas?"

"Uh, yes, Mr. Gold. If it wouldn't be too much trouble," said the man, who was a fisherman named Charlie. "I got four little 'uns an' I want to get them presents for Christmas, so if you could please-"

Rumple opened his mouth to reply.

"Unca Rumple!" Regina tugged again on his sleeve.

"Regina, wait a moment," he said, somewhat exasperatedly. "I'm talking to Mr. Lockwood." He gave the fisherman a somewhat harried look. "Sorry, I'm minding her for Mayor Nolan for a bit—"

"I understand, Mr. Gold. So if it'd be okay with you, I can give you this now . . ." he reached into a pocket and handed Gold a hundred dollar bill.

Gold went to take it and Regina yanked hard on his sleeve. "Unca Rumple!"

"Stop it!" he snapped at her. "You need to wait, young lady—"

"Unca Rumple!" she half-wailed. "I can't zip up my pants!" she cried. "An' I don't want that man to see my undies!"

Rumple went bright red. "Regina, my God!"

Charlie snickered and said, "It's okay, Mr. Gold. Kids say the darndest things!"

"Uh . . . excuse me a minute," the pawnbroker said, still flushing at his niece's frankness. He knelt and did up Regina's zipper, which had become stuck and then he said, "Okay, dearie. Now you go and color at my desk until I finish with Mr. Lockwood." Then he added, "And no touching anything! Or else I'll tell Santa."

"'Kay, Unca Rumple!" she sang and ran into the back room, where her bag was.

Rumple turned back to his customer, thinking that Regina was determined to make him drop dead of embarrassment someday. "Let me just make a notation in my ledger, Lockwood . . ." he summoned his ledger from his desk and wrote down the partial payment, making a mental note to send the Lockwoods an anonymous Christmas basket as he did so.

Once Charlie had left, Rumple went to check on Regina. He found her coloring industriously in her Christmas coloring book. "That's very nice, dearie."

"I maked it for you, Unca Rumple!" she said, and tore out the page, which was of a tree with all kinds of animals under it, all colored inexpertly with different colors, it looked like someone had tie-dyed them.

"How lovely! I'll put it right here, so I can look at it," he said, and stuck it to the wall with magic, like he used to Alina's artwork when she was small.

"Unca Rumple, I wanna hear some Cwistmas music," Regina said then.

So Rumple put on the radio he had on a shelf, and some Christmas tunes began to play. "There. Now come and help me dust, Regina," he told her, handing her a small blue cloth, figuring if he kept her busy she wouldn't get into trouble.

"I help! I's a big girl!" the toddler shouted, taking the cloth and rushing out of the back room to start dusting.

Rumple quickly followed, and as Regina dusted the baskets and the wall, the radio played, "I'm Gettin' Nuttin' For Christmas".

Regina giggled and sang along with the tune. "I broke my bat on Johnny's head . . . somebody snitched on me . . . I spilled some ink on Mommy's rug, made Tommy eat a bug . . . somebody snitched on me . . . so I'm gettin' nuttin' for Cwistmas . . . Mommy an' Daddy are mad . . . I'm gettin' nuttin' for Cwistmas, 'cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad . . ."

Rumple continued dusting, thinking what a rather appropriate song that was for the scamp inside his shop, but then he said, "I hope you'll be good, Miss Nolan and not do anything like that song says, or else you'll be in serious trouble and get nothing at all for Christmas."

"I will, Unca Rumple!" she warbled. "Cause Noel's gonna tell Santa I wanna a puppy for Cwistmas!"

"A _puppy_!" he cried, dismayed. "Are Snow and David insane?" he muttered to the dustcloth. "God help us all!" Then he turned around just in time to catch a resin statue of Mary on a donkey before it fell onto the floor and broke because Regina was dusting like mad and he'd forgotten to put the Christmas decorations out of reach of sticky little hands.

As he put the statue back, an alternate version of that Christmas tune played in his head . . . _I'm gettin' committed for Christmas . . .I've finally gone totally mad . . .I beat my caregiver with a bat . . . somebody snitched on me . . .wore a purple and pink spotted hat . . . dug up my wife's dead cat . . . somebody snitched on me . . . I gave Grumpy a happy pill . . .talked to my imaginary friend Jill . . .drove my car through a window sill . . .then chased Archie down a hill, somebody snitched on me . . . I made David eat a bug, peed all over Granny's rug, turned somebody into a slug, somebody snitched on me . . .so I'm gettin' committed for Christmas . . . 'cause I've been driven utterly mad . . ._

**A/N: So . . . I had to put the elf on a shelf in here, 'cause it's such a huge thing at B&N and I thought it'd be funny to use it on Regina. And who thought Rumple's tune was funny? **

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Lemon Garlic Wine Chicken**

1-2 lbs chicken breasts, sliced thin, breaded and fried

1/2 stick Smart Balance butter

1 shot glass dry white wine

2 tsp lemon juice

1-2 chopped cloves of garlic

1 tsp sugar

sliced lemon for garnish

Place chicken cutlets in baking pan, preheat oven to 350.

Put butter and garlic into medium saucepan, melt butter and garlic together for about 5 min.

Add lemon juice, white wine, stir in sugar.

Simmer for 7 minutes.

Pour over chicken, garnish with lemon

Put in oven, cook 15-20 minute or till sauce is bubbly.

Can be frozen to be made later, simply delicious recipe!


	6. Burning Down the House

6

**Burning Down the House**

**A/N: Okay, this chapter's dedicated to one of my nephews because . . . well something very similar happened to him when he was a kid.**

Bae decided to take a break from decorating the dojo and their apartment and went down to the station to see Emma on her lunch break. Now he was grateful he'd purchased the Escape, since he wasn't freezing his ass off driving through Storybrooke on his Harley. Emma often teased him about his thin blood from living all those years in Phoenix, and Bae usually countered by saying people weren't meant to live in climates colder that witch's heart, it was unnatural. But he had come to like Maine and his corner of it quite well, he thought as he parked the car. And it was very pretty with all the lights and decorations for Christmas up.

Emma was on the phone when he came in, so he waited at a corner of her desk, leaning on it in that casual sexy pose she adored. "Hey, gorgeous. You free to take some desperate guy out to lunch?"

Emma hung up the phone, smirking. "Gee, I don't know. Maybe. If this desperate sexy guy gives me a kiss."

"As you wish," he grinned, and leaned over and kissed her hard. "Boy, are you a cheap date."

"Just for that, now you're paying for lunch," she mock-growled, and poked him playfully in the ribs.

"Was going to anyway, so haha."

"Keep it up and I'll Stiltskin Tickle Torture you," she threatened.

"Okay I'll behave," he said swiftly, then muttered, "God, I could kill my father for telling you that."

"You've got no secrets from family," Emma said, smiling. "Or almost none. Come on. I've got an hour before the phone starts ringing off the hook again. And I've heard Granny's got a new open-faced turkey sandwich with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy."

"Cranberry sauce too?"

"Yup. Now let's go get some, 'cause I'm starving," she said, grabbing her coat.

Bae drove to the diner and they both had the turkey sandwich. While they waited for their food to arrive, Emma told him about the toy drive they were having. "I figured you might want to put a box over at Fire Mountain and a sign for donations."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Maybe I'll have my students all bring a toy before they can go to class," he joked, sipping his coffee.

"Have you got those lights up on the dojo yet?" Emma asked.

"Not yet, wild swan. I've finally found where I packed them, and maybe after my class today I'll try and string them up, all right?"

"Just be careful, Bae. I don't want to get a call that you're in the hospital with a broken back or something," Emma cautioned.

"I'll watch myself. Besides, Papa would kill me if that happened," her husband chuckled. "I nearly gave him a heart attack once when I was nine, climbing up on the roof of our cottage to fix some thatch that had come undone. I will never forget the lecture I got after I came down from there. He blistered my ears good and I was lucky he didn't do the same thing to my behind."

"So that's all he did? You weren't punished for climbing up there?"

"Oh, I was. He just didn't paddle my ass," Bae recalled. "Instead he made me card wool all day the next day. And I _hated_ that. I'd have rather gotten spanked . . . which I think he knew perfectly well."

"See, I knew you were trouble, Gold." Emma teased.

"Yeah, and what's that make you, huh? You married trouble, sweetheart."

"A trouble magnet," she returned and they both smirked. "God, I really hope this kid's one of those obedient ones you read about. Otherwise I'll be gray before I'm forty."

"Uh . . . hon, with our track record . . . I think we're kind of screwed," her husband said honestly. "But I'm trying as much as I can to model myself after my father, because he actually was really good with me before he became cursed as the Dark One. That's one thing nobody except me really understands, just what the hell that curse did to him and me. It turned a wonderful man and father into a horrible beast. And I'm so glad it's been broken."

"We all are," Emma said feelingly. She rubbed her still flat stomach and said, "Bae, we need to start thinking about names for the baby."

"You got that book, right? Then let's sit down tonight and have a look at it."

"Okay. Sounds good. Are you hoping for a boy over a girl or don't you care?"

"Well, I'd kind of like to have a daughter, but really, as long as you and the baby are healthy, that's all that matters," he answered.

"That's fine with me," Emma agreed, then she dug into her sandwich with gusto.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

On the way back to the station, a Christmas tune came on about an orphan child asking Santa to be adopted on Christmas day, telling the prospective parents how good he'd be if they took him home. Bae hadn't heard it before but Emma had, and suddenly something in the song triggered a response in her. Before she knew it, she was sniffling and crying all over her jacket.

Bae glanced over at her and saw, just as they pulled into the sheriff's station. "Hey, Emma. Aww, c'mere, hon." He pulled her into a hug just after he'd put the car in park. His hands tangled lovingly in her hair as he held her, gently rubbing her back.

"Bae . . . I'm so sorry," she sniffled, trying to get herself under control again, while crying into his jacket. "It's hormones . . . and that stupid song! It just reminds me of how I used to . . . you know . . ."

"It's okay, wild swan. Because that was me too . . .when I was with the Red Dragons," he soothed.

"I feel so dumb . . . crying over a song . . ."

"Hey, you're not the only one who does that. I choke up every time I hear that Christmas Shoes one," Bae admitted. "And I'm not even pregnant."

Emma managed a small smile as she wiped her eyes with the tissue he handed her. "God, I hope not! But seriously . . . you cry over that song? Because it reminds you of . . . of Milah?"

"That ho? No way! It's because it reminds me of my _mom_—Kristine Cassidy," Bae corrected. "She's the only mom I consider worthy of the title, except Belle. And Belle's more like a friend mama, if you know what I mean. Kristine raised me since I was fifteen, so she's the one I mean when I say that song reminds me of her." Bae smiled reminiscently. "You'd have loved her, Emma. She was a great woman, pretty, kind, compassionate . . . she gave me everything I could want in terms of love and support . . . but she could kick my ass when she needed to, and she needed to a lot at first. When I came to live with them . . . I was the original bad boy teenager—I smoked, drank, stole stuff, beat the crap out of kids that looked at me funny, about the only thing I didn't do was drugs and hurt girls. She was the one who held my head while I puked the morning after drinking half a case of beer . . . and grounded my ass for a month and stuck me in rehab too. But she also got me into my first karate class and came to all my tournaments. She was always there for me whenever I wanted to talk and I told her almost everything . . . except the real reason I came to be an orphan. Neal too. It's because of them I'm what I am today."

"I wish . . . I wish I'd had somebody like that when I was growing up," Emma said.

"Well, you do now. And our kids will have somebody just like that with you," he said tenderly.

"I just hope I don't screw it up, Bae."

"You won't. And hey, if you make a mistake, you can do better next time. No parent is perfect, and my mom would be the first to agree with that. So would my papa. But the important thing is that you'll be there for them, Emma. You and me, all the way." His mouth found hers and he kissed her softly. "You okay? You want me to stay here for a bit?"

She shook her head. "No. You go back and put up those lights, hotshot. I'll be fine."

As she got out of the Escape, she blew him a kiss before going inside, thinking how lucky she was to have married him, and cursing her fluctuating hormones under her breath.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

"Okay, tiger. How about now?" Bae called down from his perch on the ladder to Henry, who had come home from school just in time to help his father test out the Christmas lights Bae had put up over the Fire Mountain sign.

Henry flipped the switch to the outside lights that lit up the sign, and which Bae had attempted to wire the Christmas tree lights into. "It's on, Dad!"

"Ah, dammit!" Baelfire shouted, as the lights began smoking and sparking. "Henry, shut it off, quick!"

"Got it, Dad!" he turned the switch off. "What happened?"

His father peered down at the boy. "Must have not wired something right, because all of a sudden it was going to blow up like fireworks over Times Square on New Year's Eve." He started to tinker again with the lights.

But after five more failed attempts, one of which nearly caused the sign to blow up as well, Bae sighed and climbed back down the ladder to the ground.

"It's no good, tiger. Guess we'll have to call in a professional."

"Like Grumpy?" Henry suggested.

"Yeah. Which sucks because I wanted to give your mom a surprise when she came home and show her how nice it looked with all the lights on." Bae said mournfully.

"I'm sure Grumpy can fix it, Dad."

"Yeah, question is, when?" Bae huffed. "Oh, well. I'd better go over and see what he's doing. Maybe if he's not too busy, I can have him take a look at it today." His tone told Henry how likely that was—not a chance in hell.

"You never know," Henry said optimistically.

"You want to come with me, tiger?"

"Nah. I need to finish up some homework and I want to play some Candy Crush," his son said.

"All right. But you stay in the apartment, don't open the door for anybody unless they're family, and I'll be back in fifteen minutes, okay?"

"Sure, Dad. I'm gonna be eleven in five days, I think I'm old enough to stay home for fifteen minutes."

"Okay. See you later, tiger." Bae watched to make sure Henry went inside before he got into his car and headed out to look for Grumpy. He decided to try down at the convent first, since he was usually there doing odd jobs for the nuns.

Henry went upstairs to the apartment and got himself some Oreos and milk to eat while he finished reading the chapter he had left of his history assignment, which was about the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. He thought about asking Alice to make little cupcakes with a gold coin inside it like they did back then, and IM'd Alina to tell her about it, and also ask about ideas for Rumple for a gift for Christmas.

While he was waiting for her to reply back, he played a level of Candy Crush.

It was then that he came up with his wonderful brilliant idea.

He would surprise his dad and mom and fix the lights all by himself. Rumple had shown him a spell last weekend that would draw currents of energy to you, and how to manipulate them into doing what you wished.

He'd said Henry had an affinity for it, and told him that with practice he'd be able to summon lightning eventually.

_Dad_ _said there's something wrong with the current, that it doesn't flow right. So maybe I just need to draw more electricity into it. Yeah, and then it'll make the lights work and everything will be perfect. _

The boy imagined the startled looks on his father and Grumpy's faces when they pulled up and saw Fire Mountain all lit up with red, green, blue, and gold lights. He could see Bae's face go from shocked to proud and he thought about how much he wanted his father to be proud of him. It would be like giving him an early Christmas present.

He grabbed his keys and shoved them in his pocket and went down in the elevator. Then he stood staring up at the top of the building. He imagined how nice the dojo would look lit up and then he climbed up the ladder Bae had against the building.

Once he reached the top, where the light string dangled like a forgotten pull toy against the side of the sign, Henry took it in his hands. Then he concentrated, summoning the magic from within him while breathing slowly in and out.

Using techniques for focus Rumple had taught him, he used his magic to summon an electrical current to him.

Electricity tingled through his hands and flowed into the light string with a crackling purple glow.

Henry concentrated harder, bidding the lights to turn on.

For an instant, the lights flickered and glowed in a perfect string, like a rainbow they lit up the dojo.

"Yes! I did it!" Henry congratulated himself.

Then he tried to stop summoning the electricity.

And found he couldn't.

Not right away.

And before he knew it, the current grew stronger and stronger and flowed into the lights and the next thing he knew they'd exploded in a loud series of pops . . . and electricity danced along the sign and sparks fell on the roof.

And since the sparks were magical in nature, they caught the roof on fire.

With a whoosh and a roar, flames were suddenly leaping out of the roof!

Henry yelped and scurried down the ladder to avoid the fire that was now flickering and dancing in the December sky.

Then the smoke alarm went off in the building.

Henry extended his hands, trying to put out the fire.

But all of a sudden, magic's price caught up with him, and he couldn't even summon a dribble of power, he was so tired.

He staggered and would have fallen on the ground if he hadn't caught himself on a pole.

He gazed up at Fire Mountain in dismay, as it now lived up to its name, with flames devouring the roof hungrily.

In the distance sirens wailed, and Henry just bit his lip and wondered how much trouble he was in. _Oh my God! I'm so dead!_ He considered running away and finding a hole to hide in. Or pretending he had nothing to do with the fire.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a fire truck pulled up, sirens wailing, and then a police car as well. Henry saw to his relief the officer wasn't his mom.

But then Bae's Escape pulled up, and out of it emerged his dad, Leroy, and Rumple.

Henry knew then he was quite simply dead meat. He could get away with lying to the police, the firemen, heck, he could even lie to Baelfire. But _nobody_ lied to Rumplestiltskin and got away with it.

**A/N: Okay, so if you haven't heard Christmas Shoes, listen to it on youtube. And if I could remember the name of the other one, I'd tell you to listen to it too, I've heard it a lot at work. Both can make you cry your eyes out. **

**And what do you think will happen to Henry now? With Bae? Or Rumple? Or Emma?**

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Firecracker Shrimp**

For the Sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Asian chili sauce (such as sambal oelek)

2 teaspoons honey

Kosher salt

For the Shrimp:

Vegetable oil, for frying

2 large eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/4 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined

Bibb lettuce leaves, for serving

Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish

Make the sauce: Mix the mayonnaise, chili sauce, honey, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon water in a large bowl; set aside.

Prepare the shrimp: Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a shallow bowl. Whisk the flour, cornstarch and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper in another shallow bowl.

Working in batches, dredge the shrimp in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess, dip in the beaten eggs, then return to the flour mixture, turning to form a thick crust. Fry the shrimp in the hot oil until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain the oil temperature. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon.

Toss the shrimp with the prepared sauce. Arrange the lettuce in a shallow serving bowl or on individual plates. Top with the shrimp and garnish with scallions.


	7. Always Remember

**7**

**Always Remember**

"Papa!" Bae cried in horror as he beheld the flames leaping on top of the roof. "My dojo . . . it's on _fire_!" His next thought was that his son had been inside. "Where's Henry?"

He was about to rush into the building when Gold reached out and grabbed his arm. "Hold on, Bae! There he is!" He pointed to where Henry was standing next to the flagpole.

Bae almost fell to the ground in relief. "Henry!" he cried and rushed over to his son, hugging him. "You okay, tiger? When did this happen?"

Henry hugged his father back, thinking as he did so that Bae wouldn't be hugging him for much longer . . . not after he found out what had really happened. "Uh . . . about ten minutes ago, Dad. The lights . . . blew up and the roof caught on fire."

"Dammit!" Bae swore, watching as the firemen aimed a hose at the roof and tried to put the fire out.

But they seemed to be having difficulty because the fire didn't want to go out. It was still crackling merrily despite all their attempts to hose it down.

Rumple frowned. He'd never seen fire behave like that, unless . . . he extended his hands and concentrated hard.

As an Elemental Master, he could command fire, and he did so now, bidding it go out.

It obeyed, and as he did so he sensed something.

The presence of magic.

The firemen had cheered when they saw the fire was out. They went inside to check the building and make sure no other fires were ignited, they checked the roof and pronounced the damage minimal and removed the string of damaged lights.

"Looks like the lights blew up, Mr. Gold," they said to Bae, who was still rather in shock.

"Yes, I can see that. That's why I was going to get Leroy here, so he could help me wire them properly." Bae said softly. "But there's one thing I don't understand. How did they blow up if they were turned off?"

"I think Henry can answer that," Rumple put in, coming up and giving his grandson a hard Look.

"Uh . . . I . . . turned them on . . ." Henry admitted, looking away from his grandfather's knowing gaze.

"Not only that, but that was no normal fire," Rumple continued.

"What do you mean, Papa?" Bae asked.

"I mean, that fire wasn't started by accident. It was started by magic," Rumple growled.

Bae's mouth dropped open in shock. "M-Magic?"

"Yes, magic."

Henry winced as Rumple's glare drilled into him. He wondered if his grandfather, even though he was not now the Dark One, was mad enough to curse him . . . or something close to it.

Bae stared down at his son, now noting the guilty expression on his face. "Henry Gold! You have some explaining to do, young man!"

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

After the firemen left, Bae apologized to Leroy and asked him if he can take a look at the electrical box outside and handed him a replacement string of lights. The dwarf, sensing there's going to be some major discussion and punishment going down, promptly took the lights and said, "I'll be up on the roof if you need me, Baelfire," and hurried away, leaving Bae and Rumple with Henry in the apartment.

Baelfire was still reeling from the fact that his home and business had almost been burnt down due to something with magic that his son had done, and so wasn't quite up to giving out a lecture right then.

His father, however, was very ticked off at his wayward apprentice, and started asking for an explanation as soon as Leroy was out the door. He frowned ferociously at his grandson, who was sitting on the couch, and asked angrily, "So . . . what spell did you cast, young man?"

"Uh . . . it was the one you taught me last week. I summoned an electrical current because I wanted . . . I wanted to help Dad fix the lights," Henry told him, meeting the older man's disappointed angry gaze for a brief moment and then dropping his eyes to the carpet inbetween his sneakers. "I didn't _mean_ to make the dojo catch on fire, Grandpa! I swear!"

Rumple could see his grandson wasn't lying, but that didn't make what he'd done any more acceptable. "Meant to or not, Henry Gold, that's what happened. Henry, what part of _do not_ use magic without my permission don't you understand? Especially _that_ magic! Good God, boy, you almost burnt down your house . . . and yourself! _What_ were you thinking!?"

"Umm . . . that I wanted to help put up the lights?"

Bae promptly face palmed himself.

"God help you, Bae! He's _just_ like you were." Rumple remarked, still fastening that severe Look upon his grandson. "You're in serious trouble, young man!"

Henry went pale at those words. Surely Rumple didn't mean what he thought he did? "Uh . . . Grandpa . . . I'm your favorite grandson, right?"

"What's that got to do with how much trouble you're in?"

Henry gulped and gave Rumple his best I'm–really-sorry puppy dog eyes. "Because . . . you wouldn't . . . err . . . spank your favorite grandson, right? Right?"

Rumple promptly face palmed himself.

_You aren't going soft, are you, old dragon? _A part of his mind whispered. _Hell, no!_ another part replied. _I ought to take him over my knee right now . . . but . . . it's not my place to punish him when his father's right there._ It wasn't quite the same as it was with Regina, whom both Charmings had given him permission to discipline when necessary, since a toddler required correction almost instantly after misbehaving so she associated wrongdoing with it. But Henry, despite being his apprentice, was different.

He cleared his throat, then replied, "If it were up to me, boy, favorite grandson or no, you'd be getting your behind tanned."

"But Grandpa, I didn't mean to! I was trying to help!"

"_You almost burned your house down!_" Rumple repeated loudly.

"It was an accident!"

Obviously the boy wasn't getting it, Rumple thought, frustrated. "**_You almost burned your house down!"_**

"Papa, calm down," Bae spoke up for the first time.

Rumple spun on him. "Calm down? Your son almost _burns your house down_ and you want me to _calm down?!_"

"Yes, before you give yourself a stroke, dammit!" Bae snapped. "And I know my house almost burnt down, so please quit repeating it." He looked at his father, who seemed on the verge of losing it, and knew it was because Henry had scared the hell out of him. He'd scared the hell out of Bae too, but Bae found he wasn't quite as terrified as Rumple seemed to be, and didn't quite know why that was, unless it just hadn't sunk in yet, the way you didn't feel the pain of a deep cut until a few moments after it'd happened. _Why me? Dear God, why me?_

Then he pointed to the door leading to Henry's room and said, "Henry, go to your room. Sit on the bed and don't move until I come in there. _Now_."

Henry looked at his father. "Dad . . .? I'm really sorry . . ."

"Go to your room."

Henry went and Bae turned to Rumple and said, "Papa, why me?"

"Because God has sense of humor, Bae."

"Yeah. A really bad one," his son muttered. "What should I do?"

"You don't want me to answer that. You know what you should do. You want me to tell you _what_ to do. And I'm not going to."

"Shit! But this is really hard . . . I could do one thing or another . . ."

"And that, son, is the dilemma every good parent faces at one time or another."

"This is how you felt before you punished me, isn't it?"

Rumple just nodded. "And you have to decide what's the best way for you to handle this, Baelfire. Not me. _You_. Because he's your son."

"Okay . . ." Bae sighed, and began pacing up and down and thinking hard.

Five minutes later, he quit pacing and entered his son's room.

Henry was sitting on his bed like he'd been told, feeling rather sorry for himself and hoping that his dad wasn't considering doing what his grandfather had said. On the one hand, he knew he deserved to be punished for doing something so dumb, but on the other hand he thought he was a bit too old to get pulled across Bae's knee, or Rumple's either! He looked up as his dad came into the room, and as soon as he saw Bae's expression he felt guilty and ashamed all over again.

He bit his lip and waited for his father to start yelling.

Bae went and sat down in Henry's desk chair, pulling it around so he could look at his son as he said, "Henry, I trusted you to behave while I was gone. You promised me you were old enough to stay alone while I went to find Leroy and I come home and find our house on fire. That is _not_ the kind of thing I expected, young man! Do you realize what could have happened? You could have been killed . . . and all because you tried to fix something with magic!"

"Dad, I'm really sorry!" Henry sniffled.

"Why didn't you wait for me to come back? You knew I was going to."

"Uh . . . I was going to wait. I _was. _But then I . . . I thought if I could fix the lights you'd be happy . . . and I didn't know my spell wouldn't work . . . or blow up the lights and make the dojo catch on fire. I just wanted to help you, Dad. Help you do something nice for Mom."

"Tiger, you've got to learn to stop being so impulsive," Bae lectured. "And to stop using your magic like it's a . . . a cure all. It's not. And you know why your grandpa was so angry, don't you?"

"Because I disobeyed him."

"Yeah and because you could have gotten killed by doing so. Henry, you scared the hell out of both if us with this stunt. And it's something you never should have done. You don't play around with electricity or with magic. You're a smart kid, you know that!"

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"Good, but that still doesn't get you out of trouble. Not by a long shot," Bae said sternly.

Henry swallowed hard. "Dad, are you gonna . . .?"

"I should. It's what I got when I played around with fire," Bae said heatedly. "But . . . while a spanking might teach you a quick lesson now . . . I want to teach you one that lasts. And give you something to always remember, so you don't do anything so foolish again."

Henry bit his lip, not sure if that were a good thing or a bad thing. Then again, when was any punishment a good thing? "So . . . what are you going to do?"

"First, for deliberately disobeying me, you're grounded up till Christmas. That means . . . no doing anything except homework and chores when you're home from school. You're not allowed to IM Alina or Grace or any of your other friends. No Internet. Your phone's mine. You also go to bed at nine."

"Dad!"

"No, I don't want to hear it. Or else it'll get worse. Second, for breaking your word to your grandfather . . . he's going to tell you what he feels is an appropriate punishment."

"Dad, he . . . he wants to spank me!"

"What he wants and what he's going to do aren't the same, Henry. He's already told me what he thinks is an appropriate punishment for you . . . and I've agreed."

"Okay . . . but what about Mom?"

"I'll tell her as soon as—" Bae began.

The door opened and Emma stormed in. She looked like a Valkyrie, her blue eyes crackling with anger. "Henry, Jesus H. Christ! Officer Landon just told me that you started a fire here with _magic_! Are you insane? How many times have you been told you don't play around with magic?"

"Mom, it was an accident!"

"Don't you lie to me, young man! You went and cast a spell without waiting for me or your grandfather, and while what happened afterwards might have been an accident, _that_ certainly wasn't. Was it?"

Henry shook his head. "No. But I was just trying to help Dad put up the lights."

Emma groaned. "That doesn't make what you did right, Henry. Magic and electricity don't mix. You need to learn that. So, you ought to work with Leroy for a week and learn the proper way to wire electrical outlets and about currents and so forth."

"That's what I was going to say, Emma," Bae interjected. "You also should do some kind of community service that involves helping the Storybrooke Fire Department, so you see how serious it is playing with fire. Like helping them clean up a house damaged by fire. I'm sure there's a house they can use help with, there was a fire recently down by the docks."

"Your father's right. I don't want my son becoming a firebug, even if it is by accident," Emma said.

"A firebug?" her son asked.

"An arsonist," she elaborated. "I ought to ground you till you're fifty, mister! I almost died when I heard that Fire Mountain was . . . on fire. God, that does _not_ sound right!"

"Emma, I've already done that," Bae told her what he'd already outlined as punishment. "Add to that your punishment, and my father's, and I'd say he's going to regret his actions for a _long_ time."

"What's Rumple going to do to him?" Emma queried.

"You'll see," Bae said. "Papa, it's your turn now."

"Mom, I'm sorry . . ." Henry said, feeling even worse now.

"Yeah, well sorry doesn't change the fact that you almost left us homeless for Christmas," his mother said.

Rumple entered the room, still looking vastly disappointed.

"Grandpa-"

The sorcerer held up a hand. "I don't want to hear another I'm sorry, boy. Your mother's right. It's a beginning, not an ending. Now, we've had this conversation before about using magic without my permission. Apparently, I didn't stress it enough to you, since you keep forgetting. Therefore, you're going to read some books I have on the subject . . . cautionary tales that illustrate _why_ you should obey your master . . . and what happens if you don't. Then you're going to write a paper for me . . . seven pages on what you learned and why you won't be forgetting this again, am I clear?"

"Yes, sir," Henry replied. "When . . . am I supposed to do that?"

"You can work on it on the weekend . . . during the time you're supposed to have lessons with me," Rumple answered. "Because that's the other part of your punishment, no magic lessons until I see you start being responsible in its use."

"I . . . can't use my magic?" Henry cried in dismay.

"Not for two weeks."

"That really sucks."

"Good, because it's supposed to," Emma said. Then she said quietly, "But I thank God you weren't hurt. And I forgive you for it."

"Me too," Bae said, then added, "Just don't do it again."

"That goes for me as well," Rumple added.

"Crazy damn kid!" Emma snorted, then she hugged her son hard.

Bae and Rumple followed suit.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

That night, they all gathered over Gold's house for dinner. Ironically enough, Belle had made Firecracker Shrimp for an appetizer, and that led into the Charmings, Belle, and Alina finding out about the fire.

At first, Henry wanted to crawl in a hole, at the looks of shock and disapproval, though the disapproval was more on his grandparent's side than Alina's, who gaped at him and said, "Seriously, Henry? That's like worse than the candle making incident!"

"Thanks a lot!" he muttered.

"But at least you weren't hurt, Henry, and the dojo's still standing," Snow said.

"And that's something we're all grateful for," David added, and Belle nodded also. "But next time don't play with magic . . . or electricity."

Then Regina spoke up, standing on her chair and waving her finger at her nephew. "Henry! You better watch out! It's Cwistmas! An' if you don't be good, I'm warnin' you—you'll get nuttin' for Cwistmas!" She pointed to the elf that was sitting on a shelf next to the pantry. "Noel's watchin' an' she'll tell Santa!"

Everyone started laughing, and Henry flushed and said, "I know. I'll behave from now on."

Taking pity on her grandson, Belle said, "We've all done things we've never forgotten when we were kids too, Henry. Especially me."

Alina stared at her. "Mama, what are you talking about? _You_ caught something on fire?"

"In a manner of speaking," Belle replied, turning a rather becoming shade of rose. "Well, I wasn't ever the most coordinated girl in the world. My father hosted my first Ball when I was about 13. I had to wear high heels for the very first time and I just couldn't get the hang of walking in them. I kept tripping over my own feet and bumping into walls and people. I looked like someone had spiked the punch and I'd had my fair share of it! Well, Prince Humperdink of Florin asked me to dance the first dance, and since the ball was in my honor, I had to accept. We took a couple of turns around the dance floor when the prince decided to 'dip' me. I put my foot back for balance and got it caught in the hem of my dress! When he pulled me up and started to twirl me, I couldn't pull my foot out and the back of my petticoat ripped. There I was, being twirled around the floor with my undergarments tearing in shreds and floating around my feet in big loops. The prince's feet got caught in a ruffle that was sticking out from under my skirt and fell forward as I was falling backwards and we slammed into the table with the punchbowl, knocking it onto the floor and splashing the walls and dignitaries from all over the Enchanted Forest! That started a domino effect with tables and chairs hitting each other and collapsing all around the ballroom, until it looked like a food fight had taken place. And one of them hit a candelabra and it fell back and hit the drapes and they caught on fire! Luckily, a page put it out before it really got going. In the space of thirty seconds, the entire room was demolished! I was the belle of the ball that night, and I swore I'd never live it down."

"Yes, she wasn't much improved by the time she came to live at the Dark Castle. That's why I made sure her skirts were no longer than mid-calf. I've noticed that the higher your skirts are the better you walk, dearie!" Rumple teased, smirking.

"Rumple, there are children in the room!" Belle scolded.

"Mama, that's terrible! I would've died right there," Alina said. She looked curiously at Snow. "Did you ever have something like that happen to you, Snow?"

"Yeah, did you?" Henry asked.

"Yes, well, on my honeymoon night, your grandfather and I . . ." Snow began.

"Eew, Mom!" Emma gasped.

Snow rolled her eyes . ". . . as I was saying, we went hunting for a gorgon named Medusa."

"Because that's what people do on their honeymoons, Henry," Emma said, deadpan.

"I thought I could use her to . . . well, I needed her assistance in getting rid of an enemy. Anyway, I didn't do all of the research I should have done, and she broke the sword that I had brought to use against her. We decided to leave, and your grandfather distracted her, but she caught me and was pulling me deeper and deeper into her lair. Your grandfather tried to rescue me, and she turned him into a statue!"

Emma started snickering. "Are you saying Dad got stoned on your wedding night?"

Snow glared at her daughter, as Bae also started smirking into his hand. "Very funny, Emma! At any rate, I had to improvise a mirror, so I peeled the leather off of a shield and used it to reflect Medusa's image back at her. Your dad was made normal again, and we went back to our castle. That was the night your mother was conceived."

"Again, eew! And TMI, by the way!" Emma elbowed her husband. "My God, my parents!"

David cleared his throat before adding, "That goes for me too, Henry. Okay. When I was around twelve, I was sent to the blacksmith as an apprentice. He had me firing a horseshoe until it glowed red hot, and then I'd take it out with a pair of tongs and hammer the edges to shape it. I had gotten to where I could make a pretty good shape, so he left me alone at the stable one day. Well, I got distracted by a beautiful bay horse they had stabled there and left the tongs too close to the fire. When I went to pick up the horseshoe from the flame, the tongs burned my hand and I wound up flinging the red hot horseshoe into an empty stall! The straw went up like an inferno in seconds! I panicked, so instead of dowsing the flames, I got the horses out and then started yelling my head off until half of the village showed up. Half the barn burned down before they got the flames out. Let me tell you, my mama was a pretty calm woman, but she could wield a belt with the best of them. It was a week before I could sit properly. I hardly noticed, though, because I had to help rebuild the barn."

"Gramps! I can't believe it!" Henry just stared at Charming, his eyes wide.

Emma spread her hands. "So, Bae set the forest on fire, Henry set the dojo on fire, and you set a _barn_ on fire? What is it with boys and fire?"

"Rumple, what'd _you_ set on fire?" Snow asked, looking at the former Dark One speculatively.

"Belle," he said with smirk and a wink.

"Papa!" Bae cried.

"Rumple!" Belle snapped.

"Unca Rumple! You set Auntie Belle on FIRE?"

Rumple, blushing slightly, since he'd forgotten she was listening, scrambled for something to say that wouldn't scar the poor child for life, while his wife glared daggers at him for his smart mouth. "Umm . . . not literally, dearie."

"Was it with you magic? Did she have to go to the hospital?"

"Now see what you've started, Rumplestiltskin!" Belle chided.

Rumple now had images of a naked Belle in his head he couldn't get rid of, and started blushing even more. _Aww, hell!_ "Err . . . no . . . because . . .umm . . . I fixed her with magic . . ."

Regina looked relieved. "Good! Did you cry?"

"Did I what?"

"Did you cry? For hurtin' Auntie Belle?"

Rumple was now beet red. Next time he was keeping his mouth shut! "For sure I did, dearie. I cried buckets. And then I promised to never do it again. Now why don't we all have some hot cocoa and listen to some Christmas songs?"

"Nice save, buddy," David chortled, and then Snow elbowed him in the ribs.

Rumple rose and went to turn on his Bose. But instead of the Christmas station he'd had on earlier, another one came on . . . . and Jerry Lewis started belting out Great Balls of Fire.

"_Goodness gracious great balls of fire . . ."_

The adults all stared at each other for one long moment . . . then they cracked up laughing.

Henry just groaned and said to Alina, "I'm never gonna live this down, right?"

"Probably not. They'll be bringing it up when you're dating . . . and then you will when you tell your grandchildren!" she said frankly, then she gave a little giggle, reminiscent of her father, her eyes twinkling.

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn**

1 bag of microwaved popcorn, or 3 cups air popped

1/2 stick Smart Balance butter melted

2 1/2 t cinnamon

2 t sugar

dash of corn syrup

tiny colored sprinkles (optional)

Mix the butter, sugar, cinnamon, corn syrup together. Pour over popcorn in a large bowl. Turn several times, coating well. Add sprinkles if desired for festive look. Eat! Great for snacks or while decorating the tree for Christmas.


	8. Trimming the Tree

**8**

**Trimming the Tree**

_Fire Mountain:_

"Here, Henry. You put this on the tree," said Emma, handing her son a pretty golden ball to hang on the tree.

As her son hung the ornament, Bae dug in the box from 108 Mifflin Street and found a popsicle stick reindeer Henry had made when he was five. "Nice one, tiger," he said, holding it out to his son.

Henry took it, rolling his eyes. "Oh my God! I can't believe she kept this! It looks like an anorexic Bambi."

"I think it's cute," Emma said. "And I think she kept it because you made it." She was of course, referring to the Evil Queen, who had been Henry's adoptive mom until the events of a few months ago.

"Aww, please, Mom! It's embarrassing!" her son groaned. It was two days after the dojo fire incident, and he had started assisting Leroy on some calls, learning about electrical transistors, wiring, and putting up Christmas lights. "When I get older, I'm chucking all these things out."

"You are not!" Emma cried. "We're keeping them. They're a part of your childhood."

"Yeah, sure, Mom," Henry said, scowling as he hung the ornament.

"It's nostalgic, tiger," Bae explained. "Kind of like how my papa saved my things from when I was a kid. And I'm sure he's done the same thing with stuff Alina made."

"Okay, Dad. Whatever," Henry said. His dad was probably right, considering how much his grandfather loved his children.

Emma hung some more ornaments she had bought, including the one celebrating her and Bae's first Christmas together. "Look, hon."

"That's a good one," Bae grinned.

Emma handed him some Lennox ornaments Belle had bought for her. "Bae, aren't these pretty?"

"Yeah, and classy," her husband said, carefully hanging them on the upper branches. "Who picked these out?"

"Belle did," Emma answered, finding a paper constructed Santa Henry had made and putting it up on the tree.

"She's got good taste. Like my papa," Bae remarked.

"Are we gonna string cranberries and popcorn on the tree too?" Henry asked. "Grandpa and Alina always did that on their tree."

"We can," Bae said.

"How do you do that?" asked Emma.

"It's easy, Mom. I know how," Henry said.

"So do I. We used to do that back in the Enchanted Forest," Bae recalled. "Only we put them on the trees outside, so the birds and animals could enjoy them too."

"You'll have to show me. Like I needed Alice to show me how to make gingerbread and sugar cookies," Emma said.

"Let's pop some popcorn, Dad," Henry said, and ran to the cabinet in the kitchen to get some.

After the popcorn was popped, Henry got some dried cranberries from the pantry and some thread and a needle from the sewing kit that Bae had in his closet, which he used to mend tears in his uniforms.

"Okay, watch me, Mom," he said, and threaded the needle and started stringing on the popcorn and cranberries. "See? It's easy."

Bae began stringing some too, and Emma picked up her own thread and began to try and do it also. But while she found it easy to string the cranberries, the popcorn proved more of a challenge, as some of it broke when she shoved the needle through it. Then too, the popcorn was proving too much of a temptation, and she found herself eating more than she strung, because it was so buttery and crunchy.

Henry looked up and saw Emma eating the popcorn and said, "Uh, Mom? You're supposed to string it, not eat it."

"I'm hungry!" Emma said defensively.

"Leave her alone, tiger. She's pregnant," Bae said magnaminously.

Emma frowned at him. "That's not why I'm eating popcorn, Baelfire. I'm hungry. And it tastes great." She ate another handful, ignoring the half-strung thread in her hands.

"Guess I'm going to have to make more popcorn," Henry sighed.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Emma muttered. "The stupid popcorn keeps breaking too."

"That's 'cause you're pushing the needle through too hard, babe," Bae observed. "Like this." He demonstrated, gently easing the needle through the center of the popcorn kernel. "See? There you go."

"Thanks, Bae. Now I don't feel like such an idiot," Emma said gratefully, taking the string back from him and adding three more cranberries and some popcorn. Then she ate another handful.

"You're not an idiot, Mom. You're just learning," Henry said. "Grandpa says that everyone learning something for the first time is clumsy and sucks at it, or something like that."

Emma brightened. "That's good to know, Henry."

After they had strung several threads, Bae proposed finishing the decorating after lunch, and they all went to Granny's to eat.

Emma happily ate her triple decker BLT, thinking about how nice it was to have a family to celebrate the holiday with, unlike the previous years before she came to Storybrooke, when she was alone for every holiday. Family . . . it was a most magical thing.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_Gold's Victorian:_

The smell of cinnamon and sugar wafted into the foyer, where Gold was hanging some mistletoe from the chandelier, and also some swags of pine boughs, red ribbons, and gold bells along the walls. He sniffed appreciatively, he loved the smell of cinnamon and sugar, it was making his mouth water. Belle, Alice, and Alina were baking some cinnamon twists for Christmas and had just taken a batch out of the oven to cool, which was where the heavenly aroma was coming from.

He had just finished positioning the mistletoe and levitated himself back onto the ground when Regina raced into the foyer, wearing a "crown" of pine boughs and berries Belle had twined for her, singing her new favorite Christmas carol—_Mele Kalikimaka_.

"Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day," she warbled, swaying her hips back and forth. "That's the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway . . ."

Rumple groaned. This was the twentieth time . . . or maybe the thirtieth time in the space of an hour that he'd had to hear this particular carol. "Regina, dearie, please sing something else!" he ordered.

"Why, Unca Rumple? I _like_ this song!" the toddler said, giving him one of her Royal Stubborn looks. Then she began to sing it again . . . for the thirty-fifth time. "Mele Kalikimaka is the wise way to say Merry Christmas to you!"

"Regina . . . if you don't quit singing that damn song, I'm going to send you over to Hawaii," Rumple threatened exasperatedly. It had been cute when the toddler sang it the first five times, but now he was beginning to go crazy.

"Do it, Unca Rumple!" Regina shrilled.

"Excuse me?" her uncle frowned.

"Do it!" she repeated. "I wanna go to Hawaii!"

"What a little imp!" Alice chuckled from the doorway leading into the kitchen. "Only she'd dare say something like that to you, Mr. G."

"Tell me about it," he sighed. "Then again, this _is_ Regina, and she's always had an attitude with me. No reason it should change now that she's a baby again."

"Unca Rumple! I wanna go to Hawaii!" Regina declared, swaying back and forth like a drunken marionette.

Alice started giggling, her blue eyes twinkling merrily. "She's got brass, Mr. G!"

"That she does, Alice," the sorcerer replied, then he clapped his hands and a corner of the foyer was suddenly transformed into a stretch of lovely beach, with azure ocean water, some palm trees, and a grass hut decorated with Christmas lights. "You want to go to Hawaii, dearie, then go over there."

"Yay! Hawaii!" Regina screeched. Then she looked down at herself, dressed in her winter fuzzy pink sweater and jeans and little pink boots with fur on them and said, "But I needs a skirt and coconuts an' a flower necklace like the kids in Hawaii wear."

"What do I look like, a travel agent?" Rumple groused. "And how do you know what kids in Hawaii wear anyhow?"

"I saw it on youtube," the little moppet stated.

"Damn Internet!" Rumple muttered. Then he gestured and Regina was now wearing a grass skirt, anklets, a lei of purple and pink flowers, a coconut halter top, and a flower headband. "There, now go take a vacation, dearie!"

Regina skipped over to "Hawaii" and entered it, and began singing and swaying to the ukulele music playing in the "scene", which also simulated the ocean and the sun beating down on the child.

Thankfully, the sound of the little girl singing was muted inside the play area Rumple had created, much to his vast relief.

Alice eyed the toddler and said, "What'd you do, Mr. G?"

"Magical illusion," he replied. "Surely you didn't think I'd really send her over to Hawaii, did you, Alice?"

"For a minute there, I wouldn't have blamed you," she smirked. "Maybe you ought to conjure up Elvis too."

"Alice, don't encourage her," Gold snorted. "While she's over in Hawaii, I'm going to steal some cinnamon twists."

He walked into the kitchen and snatched one right off the rack, juggling it inbetween his hands because it was too hot to eat. Then he bit into it and sighed in bliss.

"Rumple, couldn't you wait?" Belle asked, giving her husband an impish smirk.

"No. They're best right out of the oven," he answered, devouring the cookie.

The timer dinged and Belle went to take another cookie sheet out of the oven.

His eyes glinting with mischief like a little boy's, Rumple went and gave her shapely bottom a playful whack.

"Rumple!"

"Yes, dearie?" he asked innocently, standing behind the counter again.

"Don't you "yes, dearie" me, Rumplestiltskin!" Belle mock-scolded. "I felt you . . . err . . ."

"What?" he queried.

"You know what!" she pretended to scowl at him, her hands on her hips.

"I do? I was standing here eating cookies," he said slyly.

"Really, dearie?" Belle rolled her eyes. "Alice, I've been assaulted!"

Alice came back into the kitchen. "Hmm . . . you look pretty good to me, sugar! But maybe you need some pepper?"

"Alice!"

Her friend turned to her former employer, "Mr. G, no hanky panky in my kitchen!" Then she swatted him on the behind with her dish towel.

"Hey! Watch yourself, Alice!" he mock-growled.

"Or else what? You gonna send me to the moon?"

"I'm thinking about it, you impudent minx," he smirked.

"Sure you are, Mr. G. But if you send me there, the Man in the Moon will get all my cinnamon twists, so there!" And she stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're lucky I like you," he returned, then he pulled her to him and gave her smacking kiss on the cheek. "Now don't say I never gave you anything, dearie."

Alice pretended to clap a hand to her cheek, laughing. "Honey, you can assault me anytime!"

Belle swatted her with an oven mitt. "I'm telling Jeff!"

Alice made a face at her. "Traitor."

Belle pulled Rumple into an embrace. "Get your own gingerbread man, girlfriend!" she declared and kissed her husband pointedly.

Alina walked into the kitchen then and said, "I think you two need to go on a honeymoon to Hawaii, Mama! You're like two lovesick teenagers."

"Alina Rose!" Belle gasped, giving her daughter a pretend glare.

"Watch it, miss. Or no cookies for you!" Rumple mock-scolded.

"Or two rabbits," she added saucily, then jumped as Rumple playfully spanked her with an oven mitt.

"She's _your_ daughter, Belle," he declared, snickering.

"But you and Alice raised her," Belle pointed out, chuckling. "So any bad habits are your fault, Rumple!" Then she went and pulled her daughter into a hug as well as Rumple.

Suddenly there came a bright flash, and Alice lowered her phone, smirking. "Kodak moment, Mr. G!"

"Alice, you're fired," he half-growled.

"I'm posting this on my Facebook page," she declared gleefully. "_Kitchen Witchery with Mr. Gold—Hot and Tasty!"_

"Someday, Alice . . ." he mock-threatened.

Alice just smirked at him, then said, "'Scuze me, sugar, but my cookies are burning," and sashayed over to the oven.

"Sassy wench!" Rumple shook a finger at her.

Alice turned and winked at him, the second cookie sheet in her hand. She tossed her head and said, in her best imitation of Scarlett O'Hara, "Fiddle dee dee, Mr. G!"

Then they all burst out laughing, as Alice slid the new batch of twists onto a rack.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

After the baking marathon was over, when Alice, Belle, and Alina had also made gingerbread cookies, snickerdoodles, and peanut butter blossoms, and everyone had eaten their fill of the cookies with coconut milk or tea, Rumple summoned the boxes of ornaments from the attic, along with the pretty velvet red bows, tinkling golden bells, and shimmering strands of icicle tinsel.

Together with Regina, the Golds decorated the fine blue spruce, laughing as they looked over all the ornaments in the boxes and picked out which ones would grace the tree this year, along with the ribbons, bells, and tinsel.

The girls sang "O Christmas Tree" in English and German, while Rumple strummed on his Martin acoustic guitar, he'd learned to play back in Fairy Tale Land from a wandering minstrel named Tam Lin, who'd made him a deal to give him music lessons in exchange for making Tam Lin immune to the fae glamour of Queen Morgana, who wanted to seduce him. But he only played for family, because he was self-conscious about it, though Belle assured him he was actually quite good for an amateur. Alice made cinnamon vanilla hot cocoa for everyone while they decorated. Nala jumped in and out of the boxes, playing with the rustling crinkling tissue paper and swatting the ribbons dangling from the branches until gently shooed away. They spread out the heavy gold brocade tree skirt on the bottom, covering the stand.

When the tree was festooned with decorations, Alina said, "Okay, Papa. Now let's light it up and put the star on."

Rumple put his guitar in his case and stood up, extending his hands. Twinkling multi-colored lights bloomed all over the tree, and winked off and on.

Regina squealed in glee and clapped her hands, no longer wearing her Hawaiian costume. "Yay! Fairy lights!"

"I've missed doing that," Rumple said, gazing at the tree. "It's so much easier than winding strings of electrical lights around the tree like I used to do."

"And we don't have to worry about the tree catching on fire," Alina remarked.

"Like Fire Mountain," Regina chirped.

"All right, enough about that," Rumple said, not wanting another discussion about fire. "Now, which one of you is going to put the star on the tree, girls? Because tradition in my house has the youngest child putting the star on for good luck."

"I've always done it," Alina said. "So you can this year, Regina." She handed Regina the pretty filigree gold star, which lit up.

Regina took the star and said, "Thanks, Alina! But how'm I gonna get up there?"

"Let me help you, imp," Rumple said, and picked her up and levitated with her to the top of the tree so she could put the star on. Then he made it glow with magic.

"The tree looks so beautiful!" Belle said, her eyes glowing. "Let's take a picture of it!"

She took several snapshots on her phone, and then one with her husband, Alina, and Regina beside it.

"Papa, are we going to do the other tradition?" Alina queried.

"Of course, dearie. The tree ceremony wouldn't be complete without it," her father answered.

"What is it, Rumple?" Belle asked curiously.

"It's something I started with Alina a long time ago," he replied. "When she was around the age Regina is now." He sat down on the sofa, and beckoned his girls to come and sit beside him.

Regina climbed into his lap, and Alina sat on his left and Belle on his right, and with the tree winkling and twinkling in front of them, said, "And the last thing we do to celebrate the trimming of the tree in the Gold house is to tell the legend of the Lonely Christmas Tree."

"What's the Lonely Cwistmas Tree, Unca Rumple?"

"It's the story of the very first Christmas tree," he replied. "Once upon a time, in a land of ice and snow, there lived a poor woodcutter and his family. He had a wife, two sons, and his youngest child was a girl named Anna. The woodcutter made most of his money during the winter, cutting trees for wood.

"But one day there was a terrible snowstorm, and the woodcutter was unable to get out and cut enough wood for his family. The snow was so deep that he couldn't walk in it and it had drifted against their little cottage so high that it went all the way up to the roof!"

"How'd they get outside then?" asked Regina curiously.

"Well, they couldn't . . . at least the adults couldn't. But Anna's brothers made a tunnel and removed the glass pane from the window, and since Anna was so little, they had her go through the window and into the tunnel. "See if you can find some wood," her papa told her. "For without it we shall surely freeze."

"And Anna promised she would. But when she finally popped up from the tunnel, like a rabbit out of her hole, she found the entire _world_ was covered in snow and ice as far as her eye could see . . . and she couldn't find a single tree with branches she could reach.

"She walked and walked, and grew colder and colder, until she fell down next to a small pine tree upon a hill, so cold she could walk no further. And as she lay down beneath the little fir tree, she heard the spirit of the tree speak to her, and it said, "Come, little girl, and curl up beneath my branches. For winter is coming and the snow is deep and dark, but I shall keep you warm." And Anna curled up under the boughs and found she was warm, as the little tree sheltered her from the wind and snow.

"It grew dark, and Anna couldn't see to make her way home, so she fell asleep beneath the little tree, and when she didn't return by nightfall, her mama and papa thought she had died out there in the woods, and they were all very sad.

"But when morning's light broke, there was Anna climbing through the window, and she told her family about the sheltering pine tree and how it had given her pine cones to burn for warmth, along with dead branches with pine needles, and also about how it had asked her in return to keep it company, for it was lonely.

"Anna had promised she would, but it was too cold for her to be out in the woods every day. So Anna's papa suggested they do something else so she could keep her end of the deal. He sent Anna back to ask the tree if it wouldn't mind coming inside the house so Anna could keep it company, and the tree spirit agreed.

"So when the snow melted a little, Anna's big brothers went and found the tree with her and they chopped it down and brought it inside the house. They put pretty ribbons and strings of popcorn and cranberries on it and paper stars and moons, to show how much they appreciated the tree's gifts, and on Christmas Day, Santa Claus came and put presents beneath it, and that was the first Christmas tree."

Just as Rumple finished speaking, the tree started quivering and suddenly Nala's small black head peeked out from the top of the tree!

"Nala! Look, Unca Rumple!" Regina cried, pointing to the kitten. "She climbed the tree!"

"Oh, dear!" Belle said in dismay. "Rumple, she'll knock the tree down."

No sooner had she said that, then the tree began to sway and tilt.

"Papa! Quick!" Alina cried, and she tried to keep the tree upright with her magic.

"Hells bells, Mr. G!" Alice exclaimed. "You'd better get that kitty off there or you're gonna have a catastrophe sure enough!"

"Nala, come here, baby," Gold called to the frightened kitten, putting Regina down to try and coax the cat out of the tree. He made smooching noises and held out his arms.

At first the kitten was too scared to let go, and clung to the tree stubbornly.

But when Regina ran up and called to her, the cat decided the safest place was on Gold's shoulder, and leaped from the tree to him in a black flash.

As soon as the cat was out of the tree, Rumple used his own magic to make the tree stay upright and cast a small circle about it so Nala couldn't climb on it again.

Regina shook a finger at the cat, who was perched on Rumple like a Sphinx. "Silly Nala! You 'most knocked the tree down! You is not 'post to climb Cwistmas trees!"

The kitten looked at Gold and meowed.

"Afraid she's right, dearie," he crooned to her, stroking her sleek fur. "But maybe we can give you a tree just for kittens."

"A tree for kittens, Papa?" asked Alina.

"Like this," Rumple said, and he summoned a scratching post and had it grow more arms and hung Nala's cat toys all over it. "There! A tree for cats. Now this tree you can climb, baby." And he set the kitten down beneath it.

Nala sniffed and pawed at it and upon finding it filled with her favorite toy balls hanging from it and mice and feathered sticks, began to bat them about and paw them, kneading her claws in and out on the tree "bark".

"A cat tree!" Regina grinned, and laughed when Nala ran around the tree like a dervish, jumping at the toys, and then lay down beneath it like a statue, her green eyes glowing in the firelight.

When David came to pick up Regina after work that day and saw Nala's tree on the hearth near the Gold's Christmas tree, he did a double take. "Rumple, what the heck's _that_?"

Before Rumple could reply, Regina did. "That's a cat tree, Daddy. So's Nala can play with it and climb it."

"A _cat tree?_" David repeated. "That's crazy!"

"But it works," Rumple said defensively.

"Only you, Gold, would have roses and climbing ivy in your living room and a . . . cat tree for Christmas," David said, laughing.

"Oh, be quiet, Nolan!" Rumple ordered.

"Daddy, you quit makin' fun of Unca Rumple!" scolded his daughter. "Or no cookies for you."

"Okay, I take it back," David said, for no cookies was a dire threat indeed. Then he took a cinnamon twist off the tray and ate it, while quietly admiring the blue spruce and listening to Regina tell him the story of the first Christmas tree, as Noel smiled from the mantle.

**A/N: For those of you who've never heard Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby, you can find it on youtube. Robert Carlyle was a musician and played in a band, so that's where I got the idea of Rumple playing guitar. I also figured Rumple could learn a lot of differnt things in his 300 years too. So who liked the story of the Lonely Christmas Tree? And did you think Rumple was clever inventing the cat tree for Nala? Who else has had a cat climb their Christmas tree? Mine always did . . . and one of them knocked it down too one year.**

**TV trivia question: What TV show are Alice and Rumple referring to in the kitchen?**

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Gold's Favorite Cinnamon Twists**

1 pkg of Pillsbury or other ready made pie crust dough

cinnamon

sugar

1/4 c milk

1 can of creamy vanilla frosting

Unwrap the pie crust and cut into strips of about 1/2" wide. Brush strips with milk. Sprinkle with equal parts cinnamon and sugar. Twist strips till it forms a corkscrew shape. Put on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 10-12 min or till golden brown. Cool onn racks.

May drizzle or dip into vanilla frosting if desired.


	9. Make A Wish

**9**

**Make A Wish**

On December 5th, Henry woke up to the smell of cinnamon and vanilla and wondered if he were still dreaming. Usually only Alice, Rumple, or Belle's cooking smelled that good. He rubbed his eyes and looked out the window, it looked to be a fine sunny, if slightly chilly, day. Putting his sheepskin slippers on, he padded down the hall to the bathroom, and afterwards headed to the kitchen to see where the awesome smells were coming from.

"Hey, tiger! Happy birthday!" Bae said, greeting his son with a big grin from behind the griddle where he was making cinnamon vanilla pancakes. He wore an apron that said _Sweeter Than Sugar, My Wife Says So._

"Dad, what are you making?" Henry asked, smiling back at him and then sniffing appreciatively.

"Your birthday breakfast," Bae replied, flipping a pancake onto a platter. He turned off the griddle, then gestured to the array of plates before it. "We have Gold Medal cinnamon vanilla pancakes, with bananas and cinnamon syrup, maple bacon, and scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, plus coconut milk and eggnog lattes, courtesy of Granny's."

"Where's Mom?" Henry asked, practically drooling. His dad had definitely inherited the Gold cooking genes.

"Had to go into work, but she'll be home later on for your party. Now, let's eat and see if I rate up there with Alice."

Henry happily grabbed a plate from the cabinet and dug in. "Mmm! So good! It's like awesome, Dad!"

"Good. At least something my mom taught me about cooking stuck," Bae said, and sat down with his own plate of food to devour it.

As he ate, Henry asked, "What time do we need to go to the movies, Dad?" He was going to see a special early showing of _The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug_ with Alina, Grace, Hans, Ash, and the Zimmerman twins.

"Eleven, and it's about nine now, so we've got time. We're meeting everyone in the lobby of the theater in Spring Rock. Are you excited about the movie?"

"Yeah, are you?"

"You know it. I love Tolkien," Bae said. "I'm sure it's going to be great."

Henry smiled. His eleventh birthday was off to a great start.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

"But I wanna go see the movie, Mommy!" Regina whined, upon finding out that her older nephew and cousin and their friends were going to see the second hobbit film.

Snow sighed as she tried to explain to her toddler that the movie was not something she ought to see. "Regina, honey, that movie's very violent and scary, it's not something you should be watching. Plus, it's three hours long and you'd never be able to sit still that long."

Regina pouted and stomped her foot on the carpet of their living room. "But Mommy . . . it ain't fair!" Sulking mightily, she ran and threw herself on the couch, prepared to indulge her hurt pride in a fine screaming fit. "I wanna go see the movie!"

Familiar with the signs, Snow said quickly, "Regina Nolan, do you know who's watching you right now to see if you're naughty or nice?"

Regina paused in the act of going to beat up the couch cushions.

"Do you?" Snow asked, rather sternly.

"Umm . . . Noel?" she slid her eyes to the elf on the shelf, who was now sitting on an end table.

"That's right. And she'll tell Santa that you're being an awful spoiled brat today," Snow lectured.

Regina pouted, not liking the fact that Noel would tell Santa she was being bratty. She was still miffed that she wasn't old enough to see the movie like Henry and Alina, but at the same time she didn't want to get a present crossed off her list or get in trouble, so she didn't have a tantrum like she would have normally.

"O-kay! But I'm bored, Mommy!" the toddler grumbled.

"Well, why don't you come here and help me wrap Henry's present from you," Snow suggested.

Regina jumped off the couch. "Okay! How we do it?"

"Well, first you get the wrapping paper . . ." Snow demonstrated how to wrap the present they'd bought Henry from Regina, allowing the toddler to give her the Scotch tape and "write" her name on the card.

The big present from her and David couldn't be wrapped, but it was waiting nearby for Henry to come back and after the cake and lunch they had planned would be given to him.

Once the present was wrapped, Snow got in the car and drove over to Gold's house, since the party was being held there, because that was the biggest place they had in the family.

When the Nolans arrived, they found Belle had decorated the dining room with balloons and blue and white streamers and had a nice blue table cloth over the large walnut table, with party favors at each of the children's places.

On the sideboard was a large sheet cake, of chocolate with swirled cinnamon frosting with the words _Happy 11th Birthday Henry_ on it, and a fairy tale book and a wand beneath the letters.

"Ooh! Pretty, Auntie Belle!" Regina cried upon seeing the cake.

"Thanks, sweetie. I did the letters and Alice made the cake," Belle said, cupping her huge belly as she waddled in from the kitchen. "And your uncle's in the kitchen making the Gold special grilled cheese along with curly fries and Alice and I made pizza dip with Italian bread, and cinnamon pita chips with Cinnabon frosting."

"Sounds totally yummy," Snow said, licking her lips.

Regina ran into the kitchen, where Rumple was flipping over several grilled cheeses, wearing a plaid apron that said, _#1 Chef—Hot, Sweet, and Satisfying._ It had been a gift from Alice—an early Christmas present.

She was wearing a pink apron that said _Sassy Mama—Butter My Butt and Call Me a Biscuit,_ and putting a pan of curly fries in the oven. It had been a return gift from Rumple.

"Unca Rumple, whatcha doin'?" Regina asked, grabbing him around the leg and hugging him.

"Careful, dearie," he warned. "This grill is hot."

Regina sniffed and then said, "Can I have some of that?"

"That's for the party, dearie," he told her. "But here, have some bacon and a cheese slice."

He gave her two slices of bacon and a slice of Cheddar cheese.

While the toddler happily munched her snack, and held onto his leg at the same time with her other hand, Gold continued making grilled cheese and bacon until he had a plate piled high with the gooey crunchy sandwiches, which was what his grandson had requested he make for lunch.

Snow came in and said, "God, that smells so good my tongue's hanging out." She spotted Regina clinging to Rumple's leg and called, "Regina, come over here and watch Uncle Rumple."

"No. I wanna stay here," her daughter argued, biting into her second piece of bacon.

Snow rolled her eyes. "She's in a mood since I told her she couldn't go to the movies with Henry."

"It's okay," Gold reassured her. "I can cook with her by me. I did it plenty of times when Alina was small."

"Yup, that's for sure," Alice nodded. "She was a real daddy's girl, she was almost stuck to him 24/7 when she was a toddler. It was a battle royale almost every day when he had to go to work, unless he managed to slip out while she was asleep. Until we managed to convince her that he'd always come home at lunch, and then she stopped having hysterics."

Snow looked at Regina. "Sometimes I wish she was more attached to me, but after hearing that . . . now I'm glad she's more independent. Although she can be pretty clingy at night when she's tired."

"That's typical. And Alina was clingy usually after she hadn't seen me for a few hours, or first thing in the morning as well as at night," Rumple recalled. He finished making the sandwiches and put them on the platter, keeping them hot with a warming spell. Then he picked up Regina, who was now eating her cheese slice, saying, "Are you being good, Miss Bossypants? Or will Santa end up putting coal in your stocking?"

"Nuh uh, Unca Rumple! He not doin' that!" she shook her head firmly. "He's gonna brung me a puppy!"

"You think so, imp?" Rumple chuckled, tweaking her nose. "We'll see Christmas morning, huh?"

The little girl nodded, then leaned her head on him while she finished her cheese, looking like a picture perfect poster child . . . if you discounted the gleam of mischief in her dark eyes.

"Where's David?" Rumple asked, balancing Regina on his hip and taking a sip from his glass of Coke at the same time.

"He's making sure Henry's present's settling down," Snow replied mysteriously. "He ought to be here way before Bae, Jeff, and the kids come back from the movie."

"Emma should be here around three, so we can relax till then," Rumple told her.

"Unca Rumple, when am I gonna go to Hawaii?" Regina asked.

"What do you mean, dearie?" he asked, prepared to conjure the illusion again.

"I mean, when we goin' to the _real_ one?" Regina stated.

"Regina!" Snow gaped at her.

Alice started laughing. "Ooh boy, Mr. G! See what you started?"

Rumple cleared his throat. "All right, dearie. I'll make you a deal. When you turn sixteen, we'll go to Hawaii. For your sixteenth birthday present. Okay?"

Regina nodded. "Okay, Unca Rumple! Deal!" then she took his hand in both of hers and shook it.

"Rumple, you're not serious?" Snow sputtered. "You're going to take her to Hawaii?"

"Why not? By then she'll be old enough to appreciate it."

"And old enough to attract boys like flies," Alice predicted.

"But none of them will try anything as long as I'm around. Not unless they want to still have feet instead of fins," Rumple growled.

"Now that's one vacation I'd pay big money to see!" Alice chortled. "Teenage Regina and her overprotective uncle! Sparks will fly all right . . . and not necessarily between Regina and those surfer dudes either!"

"You have an overactive imagination, Alice," Rumple snorted.

"And you've got a death wish, Mr. G," the blond chef retorted.

"Wrong. That's the boys who try anything with my niece," Rumple warned.

"What boys?" Regina asked innocently.

"Never mind, dearie," Rumple said. "They don't exist."

"You was pretendin' them?" she clarified.

His mouth twitched. "In a way."

"Unca Rumple, Mommy says the movie Henry went to was too scary for me," she said then, with an I'm-telling tone in her voice.

"Your mommy's right."

Regina looked disappointed. "But I wanted to see it."

"How about we watch a movie of our own, scamp?" he suggested.

"Like what?" she asked, jumping up and down in his arms.

"Uh . . . how about _Santa Claus is Coming to Town_?"

"Yeah!" the little imp yelled, and squirmed out of his arms to run into the living room.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

Henry, Alina, Grace, and their friends were starving when they arrived back at Gold's Victorian, despite having eaten popcorn and drunk soda during the movie, which they all said was excellent. The children devoured the Gold special, fries, pizza dip, and pita chips like they hadn't seen food in a month.

"Oh my God!" Snow muttered to David. "They're like locusts."

"So's our daughter," Charming indicated Emma, who was calmly polishing off her second grilled cheese along with some more fries and pita chips.

"That's pregnancy cravings," Belle remarked. "When I got them, I could eat a pint of Cherry Garcia in one sitting."

"I remember those," Snow said reminiscently. "I could eat Grumpy under the table when I got them."

But finally there wasn't a crumb left . . . or rather only enough left to feed a mouse, had Nala permitted any in the house.

Then Gold lit the candles on the cake and they all sang happy birthday to Henry.

"Make a wish!" Regina crowed, as her nephew leaned over to blow out the candles.

When he straightened up, Belle handed him a rather long box and said, "This is from me, Henry."

He opened it to find two boxed sets of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, both the first and second series. "Cool, Grammy! How'd you know I wanted these?"

"Alina only told me about ten times," Belle laughed. "I was going to get them on ebook, but then I remembered you're not allowed to use your Nook yet, so here they are."

He hugged her and then Rumple came up and said, "And your present from me is like Alina's . . . you can pick one item from my shop."

"All right! When can I pick it out?" Henry asked, his eyes shining.

"Whenever you want, but I think you'll be too busy to do so in the next two weeks, what with helping out the firemen and the convent and this new present you're getting," Rumple said, ruffling his grandson's hair.

Henry looked puzzled. "You mean, the books Grammy bought me?"

"No, he means what we bought you," David stated.

"What is it?" Henry wondered.

"I'll give you a hint. You're wearing it," David teased.

"I am?" Henry glanced down at himself, seeing only his usual sweater and jeans on.

"Around your neck, kid," Emma said, smirking.

Henry went and felt about his neck, only then remembering his talisman. "My amulet?" He pulled the little carved horse free from beneath his sweater. Then he gasped. "You . . . you got me . . . a _horse_? For real?"

"We thought it was about time you had one of your own," Charming said. "He's down at the stables. And I can give you riding lessons also."

"Can we go and see him?" Henry asked, his eyes shining.

"Sure we can, tiger," Bae said. "But first, why don't you open your other presents?"

"Okay, Dad," Henry agreed, and found he had received a book on horse care and training from Alina, a set of fine leather boots with silver spurs from Regina, Grace had gotten him a classy braided leather bridle, Hans a soft blue and purple zigzag saddle blanket, from Jeff and Alice was a nicely tooled saddle, the Zimmerman twins got him a set of grooming tools and some sugar cubes, and Ash a hard hat.

"And this is from us," Bae said, and handed Henry a long package wrapped in colorful paper.

Henry tore off the wrapping and found . . . a small katana inside. "Wow! A sword!"

"Yes, it's a katana," Bae nodded. "Like mine, and like mine it has spells woven into it for sharpness and protection."

"Your dad's going to give you lesson on how to use it properly," Emma added.

"And not only how to use it, but _when_ to use it," Bae stressed.

Henry admired the way the blade glinted in the light, with its wavy patterns rippling across the steel and the grip of red leather. Henry saw there was a small etched panther on the edge if the blade. It was a fine present.

"Thanks, everybody!" Henry said, then he placed the sword on the table and said, "Now let's go see my new horse!"

The gelding David had picked out for Henry was a purebred buckskin Quarter horse, meaning he had a thick black mane, tail, and black stockings on all four feet and part of the muzzle, while the rest of him was a rich golden color. He stood about fifteen and a half hands high, was well muscled through the chest and hindquarters, and had a proud intelligent eye.

"Hey, boy," Henry said, and reached out to stroke his new horse, giving him a treat of apple slices.

"He's a Quarter horse, Henry. That means he can run like lightning up through a quarter of a mile," David said. "Quarter horses are also calm animals and good for beginners. He's about six years old."

"What's his name?"

"That's up to you," David said, smiling as the boy gazed lovingly at the gelding.

Henry stroked the velvet nose and let the horse whuffle into his shirt.

"He's beautiful, Henry!" exclaimed Alina, also stroking the gelding's neck.

"Can I see?" Regina asked, stretching her arms out towards the horse.

"Here, princess," Charming picked her up and allowed her to touch the gelding's nose.

The horse nuzzled her, blowing at her gently.

"He tickles, Daddy!" she giggled, and patted the sleek coat.

"He looks like a show horse," Hans said admiringly. "The kind you can race."

"Or jump with," added Ash. "Like a steeplechase."

"Well, he's from top bloodlines," Charming said. "His parents were a show jumper and a barrel racer, so he comes from good stock."

Henry looked at Alina. "You'll help me pick a good name for him, won't you?"

"Of course. He's a magician's horse, so he needs just the right name," his sorceress aunt said.

"And picking out names is her specialty, like Papa's," Bae added. "A buckskin, huh? Just like the one I saw one day at the fair back in the Enchanted Forest." He clucked softly to the gelding, who swung his head and nuzzled Bae's hand, letting the older man scratch behind his ears.

"You can ride him if you want, Dad," Henry said generously.

"Thanks, tiger. I think I still remember how," Bae said.

Henry spent several more minutes petting and talking to his new horse, while the others watched and waited patiently.

"I can't believe you got him a horse," Emma said. "And I thought we were jumping the gun getting him a sword."

"Hey, you know, he is a prince, Emma," her father reminded her. "And every prince needs a horse to ride."

"So he can rescue a fair lady," Belle smiled.

"Or get knocked off trying to impress her," snickered Snow, and she winked at her husband.

"Thanks a lot!" David harrumphed.

"Daddy, you fell off a horse?" his daughter wanted to know.

"Umm . . . yeah. Once."

"While he was showing off for Mommy," Snow snickered.

"Pride goeth before a fall," Jefferson grinned.

"Aww, be quiet," Charming ordered. Then he turned to Henry and said, "Be here around six tomorrow and I'll show you how to groom and feed him and clean out his stall."

"Sure, Gramps. And then will I ride him?" Henry asked.

"Not just yet. First you learn how to take care of him . . . and then when he's ready, you get on his back," his grandfather said. "I'll show you how to exercise him on a lunge line."

Henry just nodded, stroking the buckskin and whispering, "We're going to be good friends, right, boy?"

Rumple summoned the tack from his house to the barn, and Charming helped Henry put it away in the tack room in a trunk with his name on it.

Then they all went back to the house to eat cake and play some party games before it was time for everyone to go home, and Henry went back to Fire Mountain still trying to think of a name for his new friend, holding his katana on his lap. It had been a most memorable birthday.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

A few days later, Dr. Whale contacted Mr. Gold and David, asking if they wouldn't mind helping out with a Christmas benefit for the hospital. He explained that they had several children in the pediatrics ward who wouldn't be able to come home for Christmas due to various ailments, like pneumonia, the flu, surgery, a concussion, and one had hemophilia and needed blood transfusions because he'd had his appendix removed.

"We want to make the holiday fun for them, even though they're stuck in the hospital," Victor said. "So my staff and I have decorated the ward and we play Christmas tunes and have Christmas specials down in the rec room, but it's not the same. So one of my nurses came up with the idea of having a little pageant for them and their families. You know, karaoke, that sort of thing. And I was wondering . . . do you think you could help us out?"

"You mean . . . donations?" Gold asked, puzzled.

"Or participation," Whale said. "We need volunteers to sing and stuff. I'd do it, but I sound like a frog croaking."

"Snow and I could help out," David said. "It's for a good cause."

Rumple nodded. "That it is, dearie. Okay, Victor. Let me see what my family says. At least my daughter and grandson can do something."

"Anything you can do would be great, Rumple," said Dr. Whale. "These kids are probably bored out of their minds stuck in here all day, so they'll appreciate whatever you do for them."

"When do you want to hold this pageant?" queried David.

"Uh . . . this weekend. It'll give them something to look forward to."

"And today's Monday," mused Rumple.

The two men went home and discussed things with their families. It turned out that everyone, including Alice, Jeff, and Grace, all wanted to get in on the fun. It was decided that they would all do popular Christmas songs, though Emma, Grace, and Alice said they would only be backup vocals, since neither of them were good singers.

"And we wouldn't want to scare the kids to death," Grace said.

"I have a great idea," Jeff said. "Bae, how are you with performing?"

"Me? I guess you could say I perform everyday with my students when I teach," answered the martial arts master. "Why?"

"Because . . . I think we should do this . . ." and he whispered something in Baelfire's ear. "But can you sing?"

"Uh . . . well . . . yeah . . . it's not my favorite thing to do but . . .seeing as it's for sick kids, okay."

"What are you two up to?" Emma wanted to know.

"Something brilliant," Jeff declared.

"You're planning something, Jeff," Alice accused. "I know that look."

"What look, dollface?"

"The one that says I'm up to something," she grinned.

"Well, I am. Only this time it's something good," her  
husband stated. "Meet me at my house tomorrow and we'll go over it, okay?"

"Will do," said Bae.

"What song should we sing, Henry?" asked Alina.

"Uh . . . I'll only sing something if you do it with me," Henry said.

"Okay. What Christmas song do you know really well?" she asked.

"Do we need props for this play?" asked Belle. "And who's doing the scenery?"

"That'd be me, dearie," Rumple said. "I've volunteered to do all the special effects and so forth with some illusion spells. As well as one song. With Regina."

"You have?"Belle was astonished.

"Yes. How about you?"

"Uh . . . I could do one. Now I just have to figure out what," Belle mused.

They all chose songs and then they practiced them the entire week, with Regina going over Rumple's house every day for coaching in the afternoon, while being watched by Ashley in the mornings. That left Rumple free to work in the pawnshop or take Belle shopping, and Belle free to nap during the morning or bake with Alice and Jill before Regina came over.

Henry took care of his horse, whom he'd named Arion, after the horse in Greek mythology who could run on water and air as well as land, in the mornings and afternoon after school. Then he went over Alina's and did homework and then they practiced their song for the Christmas pageant.

After teaching his class, Bae went over the Carstairs to practice with Jeff, and Snow, David, and Belle practiced with each other watching, so they wouldn't be self-conscious when they got up on stage.

Finally the night of the pageant arrived, and the Golds , Charmings, and Carstairs all met up at the hospital, where Whale and his staff showed them the stage down in the children's rec center. There were a few real props, like a Christmas tree and some stockings hung over a fake fireplace, but Rumple said not to worry about the scenery, his magic would take care of it.

And afterwards there would be a visit from Santa's helper, from David, who would hand out presents using a magical sack Rumple had given him, which would let each child pull out a toy he or she really wanted, though nothing dangerous or alive could be gotten.

While the hospital staff set up chairs for the audience and some refreshments, the performers rehearsed behind the curtain and touched up their hair and costumes, some of which had been altered by magic.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

"Attention, everyone!" Dr. Whale stood at the front of the room, on the stage with a closed curtain. The lights were dimmed and all the children were gathered in front of the stage, some sitting with parents or relatives and others in rolling beds or wheelchairs with IV drips attached. "I'd like to present the Storybrooke General First Christmas Pageant, starring the Golds, Nolans, and Carstairs. We want you all to have a wonderful holiday season, and this is one way we thought we could bring Christmas and it's joy to you, even though you're all in the hospital. And afterwards, you'll have a special visit from one of Santa's helpers, with a surprise. But . . . only if you behave!"

The children clapped and cheered. There were about thirty of them in the ward, and all of them looked painfully eager to see the pageant, their eyes shining hopefully in the footlights as they looked towards the stage.

"And now . . . I present to you a tale of two very different brothers, whom all of you ought to know, because you've seen them on TV," Whale announced. "Please welcome . . . the Miser brothers!" He gestured and the curtain lifted.

To reveal a winter palace covered in ice and snow, with icicles hanging off the turrets and snow piled all around and the drawbridge suddenly opened, with a blast of chilly air that swirled all blue and purple as a familiar tune began to play.

Jefferson leaped out of the doorway, in a white and blue costume that glittered and dripped fake icicles. He wore a glittery jacket of white and silver, with deep blue pants and shiny leather shoes, white gloves and his top hat was changed from black to navy blue.

His complexion had been whitened and his hair highlighted with blue streaks. He twirled his hat around on his finger as he began to sing in a deep bass.

"I'm Mr. White Christmas, I'm Mr. Snow. I'm Mr. Icicle, I'm Mr. Ten Below. Friends call me Snow Miser . . ." As he sang, he capered about, spinning his hat, which emitted gusts of snowy powder and gusts of glitter. ". . . whatever I touch turns to snow in my clutch!"

He bent and picked up a shovel, and it suddenly froze solid and exploded into snowflakes, drifting through the air upon the stage.

The children gasped as Jeff put on his hat and twirled around, grinning and sang, "I'm too much!" then gestured.

Suddenly Alice and Grace appeared, dressed in shimmery blue dresses with tap shoes and white stockings, with glittery hair bows and batons filled with glitter in them, almost like fairy wands.

They danced about Jeff and sang, "He's Mr. White Christmas, he's Mr. Snow, he's Mr. Icicle, he's Mr. Ten Below! He's too much!"

As they tap danced all over the stage, while Jeff cavorted and picked up various things, turning them into snowflakes with loud pops and sparkly effects, the children watched, spellbound.

Then he gestured at the audience and cried, "Come on, kids! Sing with me!"

And they did, chanting the familiar chorus, until Jeff gave his hat a final spin and snow swirled about him and he bowed, singing the final line of the song as the curtain came down.

The children applauded wildly, and then got even more excited when the curtain rose again a few minutes later to reveal a red castle that glowed with flickering dancing flames and had golden turrets and lava surrounding it.

There came a sudden whoosh! Fire sprang up from the stage floor, and out of it stepped Bae, dressed in a glittering costume of red and black, with simulated orange flames flickering all over him, holding his bo-staff in his hand, his hair stiff and streaked with red gel and his face painted with flames on both cheeks.

He spun his staff while singing, "I'm Mr. Green Christmas, I'm Mr. Sun! I'm Mr. Heat Blister, I'm Mr. 101."

He danced across the stage, his staff whirling in complicated patterns, lit up on both ends with illusionary fire, and flames danced and flickered all across the stage.

"My friends call me Heat Miser . . .!" Bae sang, and scooped up a rock. " . . . whatever I touch starts to melt in my clutch . . ." The rock dripped onto the stage and then burst into flame.

The children gasped as Bae held out his hand, which appeared to be on fire, and cried, "I'm too much!"

"Too much!" sang Henry, emerging from stage left dressed in a glittering red jacket and black shorts, carrying a baton that sprouted fire at one end.

"He's Mr. Green Christmas . . ." Emma sang, coming out on Bae's right, dressed in a glittering red body sheath with black boots.

"He's Mr. Sun!" Henry warbled, moving behind his father and pointing his baton at him.

Bae was doing some complex leaps and twirls while Emma sang, "He's Mr. 101!"

"They call me Heat Miser . . . whatever I touch, starts to melt in my clutch!" Bae suddenly threw his staff in the air, and it became a fiery brand at both ends, which he caught and spun around in a flaming circle.

"I'm too much!"

He snatched up a thermometer and sang, "I never want to know a day that's under 60 degrees . . . I'd rather have it 80, 90, 100's a breeze."

He slid on one knee, and held out his hands, singing, "Some like it hot, but I like it _really_ hot!"

Then fireballs appeared in both his hands, which he stood up and threw towards his chorus, who began singing again.

"They call him Heat Miser . . .!"

He reclaimed his staff, twirling it as he danced backwards towards the castle, calling, "Sing it!"

The children began to sing and clap as Bae disappeared into the castle and Henry and Emma danced off stage as the curtain came down again.

As the children cheered and clapped, Bae took a towel and wiped his face, he was sweating profusely.

"God, those lights are hot," he said.

"I was lucky I didn't trip," Emma said, chuckling. "But the special effects were great, Rumple!"

"Yeah, but I felt like my hands were freezing, buddy!" Jeff commented, sipping a cup of cocoa.

"You were Snow Miser, you're supposed to be cold," Rumple pointed out. "And illusion works best when you believe it, Jeff."

"Grandpa, it's almost time for me to go back on," Henry said.

"Here," Rumple gestured and Henry was now dressed in his pajamas and slippers.

"Ready, Henry?" asked Alina, also dressed in her nightgown and robe, with her pink fuzzy slippers on her feet. She gave him a thumbs up.

"Break a leg, you two!" Snow called.

They heard Dr. Whale announce, "And now you'll hear a special wish from two Storybrooke kids just like you . . . who want a hippopotamus for Christmas!"

The curtain rose upon a stage set up like a living room on Christmas, with a tree and a fire crackling, stockings hung and suddenly Henry and Alina appeared at the top of a set of stairs and began to make their way down them as the music began to play again, the piping jaunty strains of "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas".

"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!" Henry sang as he reached the Christmas tree and turned to face the audience.

"Only a hippopotamus will do!" Alina echoed in her clear soprano. "Don't want a doll . . ."

"No dinky Tinker Toy . . ." Henry chimed in.

"All we want is a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy!" they chorused. "I don't think Santa Claus will mind do you?"

They climbed on the easy chair, sitting on the arms and on top of it, singing gaily about Santa bringing a hippopotamus through the front door.

"There's lots of room for him in our two car garage . . ." Alina sang.

"I can see me now on Christmas morning creeping down the stairs . . ." Henry sang, climbing back up the stairs and then sliding down the banister, much to the childrens' delight.

"And hippopotamus' like us too!" they sang, bowing, and raced off stage right as the curtain covered the stage again.

They received loud applause and Emma hugged her son and said, "You were great, kid!"

"I felt like I was gonna barf," he admitted. "So it's a good thing I drank that potion Grandpa gave me."

"And I tripped climbing on the chair," Alina giggled.

"You both did wonderful," Belle assured them. "Now it's my turn."

She walked out on the stage, dressed in a winter white coat and fuzzy boots, her scene was a snowy woods and there was a reindeer with a red nose walking beside her as she sang Clarice's song from Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer in her beautiful soprano.

"There's always tomorrow for dreams to come true . . . believe in your dreams come what may . . . there's always tomorrow and so much to do . . . tomorrow is not far away . . ."

As she walked, snow swept in from stage left and curled about her, in a pretty kaleidoscope and Rudolph's nose glowed gently as she sang.

"And you'll be there, my friend, someday . . ."

There was even more cheers as she bowed and exited.

"You were fantastic, Mama!" Alina cheered.

"Like an angel, dearie!" Rumple said, hugging her.

Belle smiled at her husband. "Your turn, love. Knock 'em dead, Rumple!"

He winked at her, then called, "Regina, dearie, we're on next. Do you remember what to do?"

The little girl, dressed like a Who from Whoville, with antennae sticking up and a pair of feet pajamas on, scurried over to Rumple and squealed," Unca Rumple, _now_ can I sing?"

"You can, dearie. Just wait for the music to start. I'll be right by you, even if you can't see me," he murmured, taking her hand.

"And now . . . we go over to Whoville . . . where little Cindy Lou is wondering . . . where are you Christmas . . .?" Whale announced.

The curtain lifted, and found Regina perched in the recliner, leaning on her elbow, her cherubic face glistening in the footlights, the fire crackling merrily in the grate, and the soft notes of the song "Where Are You Christmas" began to play.

Rumple was by her, beside the chair, under an invisibility seeming, as she began to sing in her childish treble.

"Where are you Christmas? Why can't I find you? Why have you gone away?"

The Christmas tree lights winked as she sang, her little voice amplified by a tiny microphone clipped to her pajamas. "Where are you Christmas? Do you remember the girl you used to know? Did Christmas change . . . or just me?"

As she sang the final lines of her song, she yawned and rubbed her eyes, then put her head down on the chair and fell asleep.

The children hushed then as a very different song began to play, and the recliner spun away to reveal . . . the Grinch in all his green glory, wearing a Santa hat and coat!

The children gasped and cheered as Gold belted out the beginning of the famous carol. "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch!"

He cavorted across the stage, grimacing and giggling, as he sang, "You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch!"

He grabbed a bag out of thin air and suddenly reappeared beside the tree where Cindy slept in the chair, and began to pluck the stockings from the mantle, singing loudly about having termites in his smile and being like a seasick crocodile.

He slithered upon the floor and snatched up all the presents beneath the tree and stuffed them into the sack. "You're a monster, Mr. Grinch . . .your heart's an empty hole . . ." he gestured and opened his coat to reveal a hole where his heart was supposed to be. " . . .your brain is full of spiders . . ." he removed his hat to show spiders spinning a web on his head. " . . . you've got garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch!" He opened his coat again to reveal garlic down near his navel.

He spun about, creeping up the stairs to sneak candy from sleeping children, then tiptoeing back down to take Cindy Lou's doll (Sofia) and stick it in his sack.

Whirling around, he put a finger to his lips, winked, and continued singing, picking up the tree and trying to stuff it up the chimney while singing about a triple decker sandwich of sauerkraut with toadstools and arsenic sauce.

The children cried out as the tree was stuffed up the chimney.

And then Cindy Lou awoke and looked at the Grinch and called, "Sandy Claus, why? Why are you taking our Cwistmas tree? Why?"

The Grinch spun around and gave her a deliciously grinchy smile and said, "Why my sweet little tot . . . there's a light on this tree that won't light on one side . . . so I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear, I'll fix it up there, and then I'll bring it back here."

Then he gave her a drink and sent her back to bed, giving her a gentle tap on the behind so she trotted off stage to where Snow waited, and then he stuffed the tree up the chimney and snickered wickedly before disappearing up the chimney as well.

The children shrieked and laughed and clapped the loudest after that performance.

Gold reappeared backstage, minus his Grinch form, which had been an illusion, dressed in a Santa suit and hat, saying, "Well, that was fun, but I nearly broke my ankle on that last pass."

"Yay, Unca Rumple!" Regina cheered, jumping into his arms. "I did it!"

"You sure did, dearie!" Rumple smiled and hugged her. "Now wish Mommy and Daddy good luck!"

Regina blew them a kiss and waved as Snow and David went on, dressed in elf costumes to sing about "Santa Claus Coming to Town."

The curtain rose upon a gingerbread like workshop with lollypop trees and Snow skipping and singing about Santa making a list and checking it twice.

"Gonna find out who's naughty and nice!" David yodeled. "So you'd better watch out!"

"Better not cry!" Snow warned.

"Better not pout!" David sang.

"Why?" chorused the children.

"I'm telling you why," he called back.

"Santa Claus is coming to town!" the Charmings sang together. "So you'd better be good for goodness sake!"

They sang about Santa seeing you when you were sleeping, then invited the children to join in and sing with them.

The audience enthusiastically did so, singing the familiar song with gusto.

Snow and David ended the carol with the traditional Merry Christmas, before taking a bow as the curtain came down for the final time.

"Okay, folks! That concludes our pageant," Whale announced. "Hope you all enjoyed it, and let's have a big round of applause for our special effects master and resident Storybrooke sorcerer, Mr. Gold! And family!"

The children and their parents gave them a standing ovation.

The curtain parted again and the whole family appeared on stage, with Rumple holding Regina, who blew kisses at the audience and waved.

"You're a little diva, dearie!" he chuckled, as he bowed.

"You guys were amazing," Whale said, looking at them all in awe. "I filmed it all on the hospital cams, so you can have a copy. I don't know how you did it, but those kids loved it."

"You're welcome," Rumple said. "I think we all had a good time."

"But we still have to hand out presents," David reminded him. He took the magical sack Rumple handed him. "Now how's this work again?"

"You just hold it and let the child reach inside," Rumple instructed. "They pull out a toy, the magic does the rest."

David went out to let the children pick a toy out of the magic sack, and the first child pulled out a train set, yelling, "Lookit, Dad! It's the Polar Express!"

"It's my turn!"

"No, me!"

"Hold it!" David cried. "You'll all get a chance to get a turn, just sit quietly till I get to you." He held the sack to a little girl in a wheelchair. "Here you go, honey. Just wish for something and then reach inside."

She pulled out a beautiful doll house, complete with furniture and a doll family. It resembled Gold's Victorian in a way. "Ooh! My own doll house, Mom!"

"It's lovely, Serena," said her mother. "Now what do you say?"

"Thanks, Mayor Nolan!"

David went down the whole first row of kids before the sack suddenly refused to open. "Hey! What the . . .? Uh, Rumple! There's something wrong here!"

Rumple came over to him. "What's the problem, dearie?"

"It . . . it's stuck!"

"No, it's being temperamental," Rumple sighed, and smacked the bag, ordering in a soft voice, "You quit that and behave, you hear? Or else you'll be stuffed back in the attic again!"

The bag quivered and cringed.

"Here. Maybe you ought to take the rest," David said. "It's a magic bag, it listens to you."

So Rumple took the sack, which hiccupped and then opened obediently, recognizing a magic wielder. "Here you go, dearie. Make a wish and then pull out a surprise."

The little girl who was next, reached in and pulled out a Leap Frog Explorer, yelling, "Mama, I got one!"

"Oh, my goodness, Sadie! She's been wanting that forever," her mother exclaimed. "Thank you, Mr. Gold."

"Merry Christmas," he said, flushing slightly.

"Merry Christmas!" Sadie lisped, her front tooth was missing.

Gold went down the row, letting each child pick something from the bag until the last one had been given a present.

When they were all clutching a much-wanted toy, Gold tucked the sack away and rejoined his family.

Once again, Dr. Whale thanked them for doing the pageant and wished them Merry Christmas, saying they could all have some refreshments before going back home. The first Storybrooke General Christmas pageant would not soon be forgotten.

**A/N: Hope you liked all the songs I chose for the pageant! I tried to fit them to the people singing them. All rights belong to the song writers, no copyright infringement intended.**

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Pizza Dip**

1 package (8 ounces) **PHILADELPHIA® Cream Cheese**, softened

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 can (8 ounces) pizza sauce

Pepperoni slices

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion

Breadsticks _or_ tortilla chips

In a bowl, beat cream cheese and Italian seasoning. Spread in an ungreased 9-in. microwave-safe pie plate.

Combine mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses; sprinkle half over the cream cheese. Top with the pizza sauce, remaining cheese mixture, pepperoni and onion.

Microwave, uncovered, on high for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is almost melted, rotating a half turn several times. Let stand for 1-2 minutes. Serve with breadsticks or tortilla : about 3 cups.

This recipe was tested in a 1,100-watt microwave.


	10. Of Fate and Flus

**10**

**Of Fate and Flus**

**A/N: I thought we needed some family Charming/Gold fluff to balance out the depressing winter finale of OUAT, so here it is!**

Half of Snow's fifth grade class came down with the flu the second week of December. Alina and Henry didn't because as magic wielders they had a partial immunity to diseases like that due to their altered immune systems. So half their class was sick and the others were doing their assignments as usual, along with some fun activities Snow had organized.

As they constructed dioramas of Joseph and Mary in the stable with baby Jesus, Henry asked Alina, "So when are we doing the gingerbread houses again?"

"This weekend, Mama and Alice said. Grace and Hans are coming over to make one and I think Ash is too. Eva and Nick would but they've got the flu and who knows if they'll be better by then," Alina said as she glued a tin foil star on top of her stable, which had real straw inside the manger.

"That's too bad, but I think we're really going to enjoy making the gingerbread houses this year," Henry said as he glued a donkey in the background of his scene.

"Regina's going to make one too, so that should be fun," Alina smiled. "How are you coming with your . . . err . . . community service?"

"Okay. I helped Leroy fix old Mrs. Pritchard's house, her lights were falling off her porch, and then I went down with some of the firemen to help clean up the Walters house that caught on fire when Mr. Walters fell asleep with a lit cigarette on the couch and it fell on the floor and caught the house on fire."

Alina shook her head. "That's terrible! But you shouldn't smoke while you're sleeping. Thank goodness neither of my parents do."

"Mine either," Henry said, fixing the scrap of cloth around his baby Jesus. "It was kind of creepy and stuff going there and seeing all the damage, and it was hard work shoveling all the ashes out of there. I thought my arms were gonna come off. I swear, I'm never casting anything with fire again . . . unless I'm freezing to death or somebody's trying to kill me."

"Did you do that research for Papa yet?"

"Yeah, I read some last week when you and Mom were learning that spell to unfreeze objects," her nephew sighed. "Man, some of those stories were really creepy and scary. There was this one kid that . . . uh . . . he was playing around with a transformation spell and he . . . transformed himself into a half-goat and half-snake thing . . . and he was stuck like that till his master turned him back three days later. And there was another one who summoned up Medusa and got turned to stone because he didn't wait for his master to come and draw a protective circle before he called her."

"Ugh! Nasty!" Alina shuddered.

"Yeah, but the worst one I read about was the bottle imp. That's a demon trapped in this glass bottle and this apprentice was told to never open it, and he did . . . and the imp came out and tortured him with magic and skinned him alive . . ." Henry whispered.

"Gross! Okay, I don't want to hear any more. You're making me sick," she told him, revulsion etching her features. "You'd better listen to Papa from now on."

"I know. Don't preach at me," he ordered, somewhat crossly.

"I'm not. Just stating a fact," she sighed.

"And I still have to read more things like that . . . and write some paper," her nephew groaned.

"How's Arion doing?" she asked then , changing the subject.

Henry grinned then at the mention of his buckskin gelding. "Good. Gramps says he's settling down in his new home real well and I'm learning how to pick his hooves and give him a bath and braid his tail, like they do for shows. Yesterday I groomed him and put oil on his hooves and fed him some bran mash, that's like a treat for horses. He's starting to look for me when I come in the barn and he whinnies now when I go away."

"Kind of how Nala meows when Papa leaves," Alina giggled, adding an angel to her nativity.

"She sure does like him," Henry smirked. "And to think, when we got her for you, he didn't even like her."

"She grew on him. Because she's like his baby now. She even sleeps with him . . . on his pillow!" Alina reported with an impish smirk. "Hey, I've got a secret to tell you. Bae told me the other day that he's gonna get Papa a dog for Christmas."

"A dog? But I thought Regina was getting a puppy," Henry gasped.

"I don't know about that, just that Bae wants to get Papa a collie . . . like the one he used to have back in the Enchanted Forest. He's getting one from the animal shelter, I think."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"Uh huh. Papa likes animals. He just doesn't like to admit it at first," Alina said wisely.

"What about Nala? Won't they fight?"

"Not if you introduce them properly. Cats and dogs can be friends," Alina stated. "I can't wait to see the look on his face Christmas Eve!"

"Yeah, I'll be sure to take a picture with my phone," Henry sniggered, just imagining it. Then he went and put a horse in the manger, like Arion.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_Two days later:_

"Daddy, when can we send my list to Santa?" Regina wanted to know, as she sat down with her mom and dad before dinner one night to make out her list for Santa.

"Tomorrow, when I go into work, I'll mail it, princess," David promised. "Now . . . what've you got on it again?"

"Uh . . . a puppy, a Barbie car, new shoes, some dresses for Sofia, a stroller so's I can put Sofia in it and walk with her n' Auntie Belle an' Emma after they has their babies . . . umm . . . a new sweater. . . . oops! Gotta cross it out, cause Unca Rumple's makin' me one . . ." she grabbed a crayon a scribbled out something on her list. "The Easy Bake oven, a hippopotamus . . ."

"A _what?_ A hippopotamus?" David repeated.

"Yeah, you know, like it says in the song—I wanna hippopotamus to play with an' enjoy," Regina sang in her childish treble.

"Regina, Santa can't bring you a hippopotamus for Christmas. We're not the San Diego Zoo here," her father objected.

"Santa knows we can only have one animal," Snow added. "So you need to choose—a puppy like Pongo or a hippopotamus."

"A puppy! I wanna girl one . . . so's she can have puppies like Perdy in 101 Dalmatians!" Regina squealed.

"My God! Now we're a kennel!" David groaned, putting a hand to his forehead.

"Oh, leave her alone," his wife nudged him. "She's a little girl, let her pretend, Charming."

"We're getting the dog fixed, if she gets one," he said firmly. "I'm not having a . . . Dalmatian farm or something."

"You mean a Dalmatian plantation, Daddy," corrected his daughter.

"Whatever. We're going to have _one_ dog, not one hundred of them."

"Aww! But Da-a-ddy!" she whined.

"Hey. No whining. Because Noel's watching," David reminded her, pointing to their elf, who was now sitting on the branch of their Christmas tree, which didn't look quite so pitiful now that ornaments were on it, and Rumple had given David some quick-gro serum to put in the water, which made the tree sprout new branches on the side it was missing them.

Regina huffed, thinking it was really hard to be good for the _whole_ month of Christmas. Then she crossed off the hippopotamus on her list too.

"You sure Santa can read this?" Charming asked doubtfully, looking at the list which was full of scribbles and crossouts.

"Uh huh. Daddy, he's _Santa_. He can read anything," Regina stated. "How long's it take a letter to get to the North Pole?"

"It takes a few weeks, which is why we have to mail it soon, baby," Snow answered, helping Regina to fold the list into thirds and put it in an envelope with Santa's address on it. "Here, lick the stamp." She handed Regina a Christmas stamp with Rudolph on it.

Regina stuck it on, the waved the envelope in front of David's face. "Here, Daddy! You gots to mail it!"

"Okay, tomorrow I will," he said, and stuck the letter into his jacket pocket. "Now what are we having for dinner?"

"S'ghetti and meatsaballs," Regina told him, putting on a fake Italian accent.

"What are you, a little Italian baby?" David laughed.

"Yup. Jus' like Stefan an' Angel Tessaro in New York," his daughter declared. "When we gonna see them again, Mommy?"

"I don't know, Regina. Maybe . . . maybe they'll invite us over to see the tree in Rockefeller Center," Snow mused. "Nonna did say they have a big Christmas party every year."

"Good! I wanna see Stefan again. 'Cause he's my boyfriend an' I'm gonna marry him," Regina stated.

David started laughing then.

"Daddy! It's not funny!" Regina said indignantly.

"Sure it is. About as funny as Uncle Rumple taking you to Hawaii."

Regina crossed her arms over her chest. "Is not! Unca Rumple is so takin' me to Hawaii. He said so! And he always does what he says. An' Stefan's my prince an' I'm gonna marry him when I'm grown-up."

"Have you told him that?" David continued giggling.

"Mommy, Daddy's makin' fun of me!"

"Charming, stop. You're hurting her feelings," Snow scolded.

"She's three years old and she thinks she already knows who she's gonna marry?" David snorted. "Snow, that's crazy!"

"David!"

Regina glared angrily at him. "Daddy, you is mean an' I'm tellin' Santa on you! An' you'll get nuttin' for Christmas!"

"Santa doesn't bring presents to adults," her father pointed out.

"Then Mommy's not getting' you nuttin'!" Regina cried.

"Yeah. So you'd better watch out," Snow said, wagging a finger at him.

Her husband rolled his eyes. "Come on, Snow!"

Regina abruptly jumped down from her chair and ran across the room to the loft door.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" asked Snow.

"I's runnin' to Unca Rumple's house," Regina said sulkily. "I's tellin' on Daddy an' stayin' there 'cause he don't make fun of me!"

"Oh, now wait a minute!" David cried.

"David, tell her you're sorry," hissed his wife. "You've made her upset."

"Regina . . . okay, I'm sorry. I . . . I shouldn't have . . . err . . . made fun of you," her father said contritely.

But Regina kept trying to get out the door. "I'm still goin' there! 'Cause Unca Rumple's got eggnog cookies an' I's hungry!"

"Sweetie, we can eat them when we go over to make gingerbread houses," Snow reminded her.

"Noo! Mommy, I wanna eat them now!" the toddler bawled.

"David, now look what you've done," Snow said crossly, and went to take the distraught child in her arms. "Honey, I promise you can eat some of Uncle Rumple's cookies later. Now stop crying and let's make some spaghetti and meatballs."

But Regina continued to cry, scrunching up her face and wailing, "I wanna go to Unca Rumple's!"

"Okay . . . how about we go there for dessert?" Snow suggested, anything to make the toddler quit howling.

Regina sniffled into her shirt for a few moments more, then nodded. "'Kay, Mommy."

Snow wiped her face with a towel and then said, "Now, do you want to help me make spaghetti, or do you want to watch?"

"I help!"

"Good, now get the spaghetti from the pantry," Snow said, while she went to get the jar of Prego Old World Style. "David, you can get the bread and set the table."

While the spaghetti water was boiling, Snow took out a package of frozen Italian meatballs and heated them up in the microwave. She set out some Parmesan cheese on the table and some iced tea.

Soon the meal was ready, and they all ate happily. Regina forgot she was upset after eating her second meatball and started singing "Bella Notte" as she ate her spaghetti.

After they had put away the leftovers and washed the dishes, Snow told Regina to get her coat on and they would go over Gold's house for dessert.

Regina grabbed her pink furry coat out of the closet and went to put it on, yelling, "Yay! We's goin' to have eggnog cookies for dessert!"

"What's so great about these eggnog cookies?" David muttered.

"Wait till you taste them," Snow said, having tried one when Alina brought her some at school that day. "They're amazing!"

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_Gold's Victorian:_

Rumple had just put the kettle on to make some tea, putting the sweater he was knitting for Henry on his chair with his needles stuck in it, when Alina came in, holding her own needles and a skein of yarn.

"Papa, I need help. I can't get this scarf I'm knitting for Grace for Christmas to come out right," she said fretfully.

"Let me see, dearie," Rumple took her needles and yarn and examined them. "Hmm . . . you've miscounted some rows here, Alina. Come in the den and I'll show you where you went wrong."

Alina followed him into the den, and they sat down together, and Rumple showed her how to unravel the mistake she'd made. "See, you need to count over four rows, like this, dearie . . ."

Belle watched her daughter and husband together, the two dark heads next to each other, as the father shared his hard-earned skill with his daughter, his hands gently demonstrating the technique to her, and she smiled and put her hands over her belly. "Someday that'll be you," she whispered to her twins. "And you'll learn from your papa too, just like your big sister."

"Now cast and loop . . . one, two, three . . . like this . . . and there you go," Rumple said, showing Alina how to fix her stitches. "See how easy that is?"

"For you, Papa," Alina said.

"You can do it too. Go on, try," he urged.

Alina put her tongue between her teeth, concentrating hard. Then she began to do as Rumple had shown her. "I did it! Look, Papa!"

"That's my girl!" he praised and then he hugged her. "You'll finish that scarf in time for Christmas, I'm sure of it."

"I have to. It's Grace's present. I hope she likes it. Even if it looks like a sick snake," she said, adding on another stitch.

"She'll love it, dearie. Because _you_ made it," Rumple told her. "And the best gifts come from the heart."

"That's so true, Rumple," Belle agreed. Then she picked up the bib she was cross stitching.

Rumple went and picked up his knitting again, and started to finish the sleeve he'd been working on. Nala jumped up on his knee and started purring and kneading his leg.

Alina looked up and saw the kitten perched on her father and said, "You know . . . the family that sews together stays together."

Belle looked at Rumple and they both chuckled at their daughter's quick wit.

Then the kettle whistled, and Rumple went to go and get the tea.

Just then the doorbell rang.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

"So . . . what brings you all here?" Rumple asked as they all sat around the dining room table, eating eggnog cookies and drinking tea from his Japanese blue willow tea set (the one with the chipped cup).

"Regina wanted your eggnog cookies," Snow said.

"An' Daddy was makin' fun of me, Unca Rumple," the toddler reported, leaving her chair, a cookie in one fist, and going over and crawling up on Rumple's knee.

"Really, dearie?" he asked, smiling down at her. "How come?"

"Because she tells me that she's going to marry that boy we met in New York . . . little Stefan Tessaro," David said. "And I happen to think it's . . . ridiculous."

"It's _not_!" Regina said stubbornly. "Right, Unca Rumple?"

"If it's true love, dearie, we shall see, won't we?" her uncle said.

"Rumple, don't encourage her!"

"Why? You never know what fate has in store, David. I'm living proof of that," the sorcerer replied. "For years I swore I would never have a happy ending . . . but I was wrong. I have now what I've always wanted, despite all I've done wrong and all I thought would never come true."

"Yeah, but she's three," David protested.

"Sometimes . . . . there are things you simply know," Rumple said quietly. "And it doesn't matter if you're three or three hundred." He sipped his cup of tea and then gently stroked Regina's head.

"You're both crazy!" Charming muttered. Then he helped himself to another cookie, which was delicious, as Snow had said. This once, he thought, Rumplestitskin was wrong. Regina was only a baby. She couldn't know anything about true love . . . or the one who was her heart's match. It was utterly ridiculous.

Regina leaned back in Rumple's arms, eating her cookie, looking oddly serene and content, with crumbs speckling her lips. She was no longer angry at her daddy. Mommy believed her. And so did Unca Rumple. And that was enough.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

The next morning, Snow woke up and felt her head throb and an aching feeling spreading throughout her entire bones. She groaned and nudged David, who was snoring on the pillow next to her. "Charming . . . wake up!"

"Huh? What? What's the matter?"

"I . . . I'm not feeling well . . . my throat hurts and I . . . think I've got the flu . . ."

"Aww, hell!" David sighed. "Okay . . . uh . . . let me call the office . . . and I'll go out and get you some flu pills or whatever from the pharmacy . . ."

"David . . . I want you to get Regina away from here," Snow coughed.

"Okay. Let me bring her over to Ashley's. I'll get your medicine on the way back." He got up and started to get dressed. "Just . . . go back to sleep, okay?"

Snow made a noncommittal noise and fell back onto the pillows.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_An hour later:_

The little bell, festooned with holly, tinkled brightly over the door of Gold's pawnshop.

Mr. Gold looked up from rearranging some antiques to be better displayed in the case as Charming walked in, holding a semi sleepy Regina in his arms. "David? What brings you by at this hour of the morning?"

"Snow's sick with the flu, and we didn't want Regina to catch it, so I went to bring her to Ashley's, but Sean's got it too and then I thought maybe you could . . . err . . . watch her while I take care of Snow today. You don't mind, do you?"

Rumple sighed. "I was going to rearrange a few things here, but . . . it's okay. With all the kids sick in her class, I'm surprised she lasted this long." He walked over to them. "Hey, imp. Come here." He took Regina from David.

The little girl nuzzled up to him. "M' tired, Unca Rumple!" she whimpered, crying a little.

"Shhh . . . it's okay," he soothed, patting her back.

"She's a little cranky," Charming sounded apologetic.

"I'd be too if somebody kept waking me up," Rumple said. "Go home and take care of your wife. Regina and I will be all right."

"Thanks, Rumple," David said gratefully.

"You don't have to thank me. We're family. Now go on," he waved David out the door, walking back into the room, rubbing circles on the cranky child's back. "Shhh, sweetheart . . . let's go into my back room and you can take a little nap . . ."

He used his magic to set up a little bed there next to his desk and went to put the little girl on it, but Regina perversely now wanted to be held and wouldn't let go of him, gripping his shoulder and part of his jacket. "Nooo!"

"Okay . . . how about we sit here for a bit?" Rumple said, and sat down behind his desk with her. He cuddled and hummed to her, gently rocking her back and forth. It recalled to him the many times he'd done this same thing with Bae and Alina when they were small. _And soon you will again with the wee ones to be born._

Gradually Regina relaxed against him and he was able to put her down and cover her with a small afghan. She fell asleep sucking a little on her thumb, and he kissed her forehead and murmured, "Sweet dreams, baby girl."

Then he left her asleep and went back inside the shop.

**Page~*~*~*~*~*~Break**

Two hours later Regina woke and wandered into the main room of Gold's shop, feeling a bit under the weather. She didn't bound over to Rumple the way she normally did, simply standing there watching as he placed some jewelry in the glass case and locked it.

Feeling eyes on him, he turned and saw his niece standing there, in her purple dress with her little patent leather shoes and white tights over her ruffled pantalets. "Hey, dearie. You feeling better now?"

Her dark eyes tracked on him, and she nodded. "I thirsty."

"Okay . . . let's see what I have in the fridge," he said, and went into his back room and looked in his mini fridge. There were water bottles, iced tea, and some juice boxes. He picked up a Minute Maid orange juice and stuck the little straw into it before bringing it to her. "There you go."

She sucked it down silently.

He glanced at her. "You still tired, Regina?"

She nodded, she was, a little.

"Why don't you go over here and finish your juice while I put some things in the window display?" he suggested. He spread a thick blanket down on the floor inbetween the baskets and put Sofia on it.

Regina went over and sat down, still drinking, at half her usual speed.

Gold put some new items he'd acquired in the window, and some Christmas decorations as well, before he realized that a whole fifteen minutes had gone by without Regina pestering him or chattering to him.

Puzzled, he looked back at her, and found she was sitting with the empty juice box in hand, just watching him. "You're awfully quiet today, little minx," he said. "Why don't we put on some Christmas songs?"

He went to turn on the radio, and just then the shop bell tinkled and a customer came in.

For the next twenty-five minutes he was kept busy negotiating with customers. When the last deal had been struck, he looked around to see what Regina was up to and found she was gone from the blanket.

"Regina, where are you?" he called, then went to look for her, finding her at last in his back room, curled up on her little bed. "What's this? You feeling okay?"

He bent and put a hand on her forehead. "Hmm . . . you're a little warm."

"Unca Rumple . . ."

"What's wrong?"

"My t'roat hurts."

"Hurts how? Like when you swallow?"

She shrugged.

He lit up his index finger and said, "Open for me, dearie, let me see."

She refused . . . but after a few minutes of coaxing, opened her mouth.

He peered inside, noting her throat looked a bit inflamed.

He gently felt the glands under her chin, they were slightly swollen.

"I think we need to go home and you take some Tylenol and go to bed," he said. "You may be coming down with something like your mama."

He picked her up, turned his shop sign to Closed, and took his niece, her doll, her bag, and put them into his Cadillac. Then he drove home, eyeing the listless child in concern.

Once at his house, he transformed Regina's clothes into a comfy nightgown and grabbed a bottle of children's Tylenol from his medicine cabinet in the bathroom, luckily he kept some on hand just in case. He also summoned a spoon and then prepared for her typical attitude when it came to taking medicine.

Oddly, however, she didn't fight all that much when he presented the spoon with the Tylenol to her. She gave a token whimper and then reluctantly opened her mouth.

"Come on, that's my good girl!" He popped the spoon in and made sure she swallowed.

Then he gave her more water to drink. He thanked goodness Belle was out, over at Alice's helping her wrap presents or something, so he didn't have to worry about her getting sick too.

He brought Regina to the bathroom, making sure she used the toilet before he carried her upstairs to her room and put her to bed, lining the sheet with a thick towel just in case.

She lay quietly on the bed, her bright eyes dull and her cheeky demeanor snuffed out like a guttered candle. He felt her forehead again, then not satisfied, went and summoned a thermometer and gently inserted it into her ear to take her temperature.

"101," he read. "You've got a little fever, dearie. No wonder you're so quiet."

Concerned, he sat beside her bed, carding her hair and Nala jumped up and curled up by her feet, as if sensing Regina was no threat to her.

Regina just lay there, sucking a little on her thumb, feeling achy and tired. She turned over on her stomach, her bottom sticking up under the covers.

Rumple patted it and crooned, "Goodnight, sleep tight, my wee little one," singing an old lullaby that he used to sing to both children, lapsing unconsciously into his old lilting speech patterns. "In the gloaming, I shall bide wi' thee, by an' by, while thee sleeps, my wee little one . . ."

It was an old old tune, he could recall his mother singing it to him as well as Rhea while she rocked her in the cradle, his mother had a beautiful voice, like an angel singing, with a lovely sweet lilt that Rumple still recalled even though he hadn't heard it in almost three centuries. His sweet gentle mother, who had been a celebrated spinner, and had deserved so much better than his father, who had abandoned his family to save his own hide . . . and sacrificed his only daughter as well. She had died when he was seven, yet he saw her in Rhea at times, and even Alina as well.

He continued singing, hearing in his own voice the echo of his mother's, and he thought at long last Daria would have been proud of her wayward son, who had learned that love and family came first, before anything. When he looked again at Regina, he saw she was sleeping soundly. So was Nala, curled up in a ball by her feet. He remained there beside his sleeping niece and cat, until he heard the front door open and Alina call, "Mama, Papa, I'm home!"

Only then did he rise and go to wash his hands with some antibacterial soap, and use a ward to confine the germs to this room, and so avoid spreading them to Belle, before going downstairs to greet Alina and ask her how her day went.

**Rumple's Recipe Corner**

**Rumple's Eggnog Cookies**

1 1/4 cups white sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup eggnog

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Eggnog Glaze:

2 Tbsp. eggnog, more if you want a thiner glaze

1 pinch nutmeg

1-2 C. powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line pans with parchment paper.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. Cream sugar and butter until light

4. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks; beat at medium speed with mixer until smooth.

5. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined.

6. Do not over mix

7. Spoon onto un-greased cookie sheets or parchment paper and make the dough balls rather small, they will spread generously in the oven.

8. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.

9. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until the edges barely start to brown.

Glaze:

1. Combine eggnog, nutmeg and 1 C. powdered sugar with a fork or whisk. Depending on how runny or thick you want your glaze, add in more powdered sugar or eggnog.

2. Glaze cooled cookies, go heavy on the glaze because that's where you taste a lot of the eggnog-goodness!


	11. Sick Days

**11**

**Sick Days**

While Alina finished her homework, Gold called David and told him that Regina also seemed to have come down with the flu. David reported that Snow was quite ill and he was also starting to come down with the same symptoms. "Please, Rumple, could you look after Regina for me?" he coughed into the phone. "Sorry, but I just . . . can't take care of her, me, _and_ Snow all at once."

"Not a problem, David. I'll be okay with her, since I can't get sick from it and neither can Alina," Gold reassured him. "You and Snow just concentrate on getting better yourselves. Have you spoken to Victor about it?"

"He told me pretty much what I've been doing already," David sniffled. "Take flu medicine and rest, drink lots of liquids, and eat soup, eggs, protein shakes to keep nutrients in your system. He said they've got a lot of people down with this virus, hospital's full of them."

Gold frowned. "Sounds like an epidemic. Be well, David, and don't worry about Regina. I've nursed two kids through childhood illnesses. Talk to you later."

After he hung up the phone, he called Belle on her cell to inform her about Regina, and said perhaps it would be best if she stayed over Alice's for the night, since the virus was most contagious right after it emerged in a person, and even though he'd washed his hands, and was immune to it himself, he didn't want to risk her getting sick this late in her pregnancy.

"Don't worry, Mr. G," Alice said after he'd talked to Belle, taking the phone from her friend. "Belle and me'll have a pajama party, like we used to when we were girls. It'll be like old home week here at my house. We'll watch _I'll Be Home For Christmas_ and _The Christmas Candle_, stuff ourselves with cookies and drink eggnog."

"That's good, Alice. Have a ball," Rumple chuckled, then hung up. He looked over at Alina and asked, "Was Bae planning to come over tonight to eat with us?"

"Um . . . I'm not sure. But maybe you'd better call him and find out," she suggested.

"Right, and I'll tell Emma what's happening too."

Once that phone call had been made, Rumple looked at his daughter and said, "I have a feeling that tonight's going to be a long night, so why don't I go and get take out from Granny's? She may even have some chicken soup I can get for Regina."

"That's good, Papa. I want a bacon cheeseburger with curly fries and a piece of apple pie," Alina told him.

"Hmm, that sounds good, I'll make it two of them, and a piece of chocolate cream pie for me," her father said. "I'll call in the order now and pick it up at five."

"We'll have a father-daughter date," the girl giggled as she did her science homework.

"Sounds good to me, dearie," Rumple said, then went to feed a begging Nala some cat treats.

**Page~*~*~*~*~*~Break**

Rumple and Alina ate their cheeseburgers and fries companionably, with Alina discussing some of the spells Rumple had taught her and Rumple telling her of some of the odder customers he'd had come into the shop that day. The two conversed easily, as they had for so many years before the curse broke, when it was the two of them and Alice, then known as Saylah, her cursed self.

It wasn't that the two didn't miss Belle, but they fell back easily into their old pattern of discussion after dinner, as comfortable with each other as a worn pair of slippers, without any of the awkwardness or hesitation that sometimes marked discussions between fathers and daughters. Of course they weren't discussing anything uncomfortable, but nevertheless the old camaraderie was still there between them, and Alina flicked soap bubbles at Rumple as she washed the dishes while he dried them, and he playfully tugged her thick curly hair and called her his "little minx".

Their bonding time was cut short, however, from Regina calling from her little bedroom in a hoarse voice, "Unca Rumple! Unca Rumple . . . I'm all wet!"

Alina stared at her papa. "What's she mean, Papa?"

Rumple sighed. "Let's go see, dearie," though he was almost certain he knew why the toddler had said that. He transported himself upstairs.

Alina followed a moment later, reaching Regina's little room just in time to hear her father murmur, "It's okay, Regina. It's just a little accident, dearie. Don't cry."

For now the little girl was sobbing, Alina could hear her as she approached, as well as coughing hoarsely. "Papa, what's the matter?"

She saw Rumple kneeling next to a sniffling and crying Regina, and removing a rather sodden nightgown. "She just had a little accident, that's all. It happens sometimes when little kids her age are sick like this. Alina, do me a favor and run a warm bath for her. It might make her feel a little better to soak for a bit and it'll make getting her clean easier."

"Sorry! I sorry!" the child was hiccupping at the same time she was crying, and tears and snot were running down her face.

"Hey, Regina, it's okay. Dearie, you're not in trouble, so stop acting like I'm going to punish you," Rumple crooned.

The child continued to sob pitifully, "I be good! I sorry!"

"You've nothing to be sorry for, sweetie. I'm not mad at you," her uncle soothed, he summoned a towel from the linen closet and wrapped the little girl in it, then hugged her to him. "It's okay. There's nothing to get all hysterical over, dearie."

Alina went to run the water as requested, wondering at the child's reaction. Regina wasn't the type to cry over anything unless she was hurt or in trouble. Unless she was weepy because she didn't feel good? Still, her reaction bothered the older girl, making her intuition tingle like mad.

When the water was warm enough, Rumple brought Regina into the bathroom and put her in the tub, which was filled with chocolate mint bubble bath, and gently washed her, then let her soak in the water for awhile, playing with some Little Mermaid bath toys.

"Here, Papa," Alina came in with a thick terry towel and a small T-shirt of hers. "I shrunk it a little for her, though it's probably still a little big."

"That's good, dearie. And would you get a Pull-Up from the closet too? I'd better put that on her just in case," her father said. He had gotten them from Snow, who kept some on hand because Regina still had the occasional accident at night.

"Okay. And I'll change the sheets on her bed too," Alina said.

Rumple stayed and watched Regina while Alina fixed up the bed again, and when his daughter returned, had her help dress the little girl in clean clothes and then Rumple took her temperature.

"102," he said. "But that could be because of the water too." He summoned the bottle of Tylenol again and gave Regina another dose.

This time the little girl fussed a little before taking the medicine, but Rumple gave her some juice afterwards and then asked if she wanted to eat something.

"Uh huh. I hungry."

He'd gotten her some chicken soup from Granny's and took her down to the kitchen to eat it, holding her on his lap and feeding her spoonfuls.

Regina coughed and whined, "Unca Rumple, I feel icky."

"Yes, I know. You've got a nasty flu, baby girl. Now eat one more spoonful for me. There's my good girl."

He got her to eat almost the entire portion of soup, then some chamomile tea as well. He had her blow her nose for him too, patting her on the back when she coughed afterwards.

"Hmm . . . you've got a bit of congestion there, sweetie." He fetched some cherry Vicks from the medicine cabinet and rubbed some on her chest, it was easier than fighting with her to swallow some cough medicine.

Regina was fretful and squirmed while he held her, but soon the combination of medicine and soup made her sleepy and she snuggled against him. He returned upstairs and rocked and sang to her until she had fallen asleep on his shoulder, then he tucked her into bed.

He left a little light on and the door partially open. When he came into the hallway, he found Alina standing there, looking concerned. "She ought to sleep for another four to six hours at least. That medicine knocks her out, which is good, because sleep is best."

Alina nodded, then asked, "Papa, why was she so upset before? Was it because she was sick? Or ashamed that she wet herself? Or . . . was there something else going on?"

"It was probably a combination, Alina, but . . . her reaction suggests . . . that she remembers getting in trouble for having accidents . . ."

"From who? Not Snow and David."

"No, dearie. My best guess is Cora."

"But I thought . . . you took away her memories of her!"

"I took away those I found, Alina. But there are more, probably, that she still has buried deep within her subconscious. The mind's a powerful thing, Alina. It protects you from things that hurt you very well, and that's what it's done for her. Until something . . . like tonight's accident, triggers the old memory. . ."

"Can you dreamwalk her again, Papa?"

"I would, but right now's not the time. She's sick and might not react well to my using magic on her. It can wait till she's better. Now, let's go and have some tea and our pie, shall we?"

"Okay," Alina agreed, and together they made their way down the stairs.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

The next three days were busy ones for the Golds, as they tried to prepare for the holidays, go to school, and take care of Regina. That task fell to Rumple, as he was the only one besides Alina who could risk being around Regina without contracting the flu.

Snow and David were both still sick with it, and Emma, Ruby, and Granny took turns going over to visit them and bring them food and more flu medicine from the pharmacy. Ruby and Granny were also immune to it, due to being werewolves, their physiology changed when they shifted, like a magician's did when their magic awakened.

Henry griped a bit about their substitute, preferring Snow, but after Bae told him to hush and just deal with it, he stopped complaining. He was also busy with his projects for the fire department and Rumple, as well as school, and tumbled into bed each night exhausted.

"So, how are your parents doing?" Bae asked Emma that night, the fourth night since Snow had gotten sick.

"Dad's still sick as a dog, but Mom's starting to get a little better," Emma told him. "That protein shake you had me make them really helps, though it looks totally gross. It's green."

"That's the sea kelp powder," Bae chuckled. "But hey, it works, doesn't it? And it tastes like a malted milk shake. Papa's even gotten Regina to drink it. It has a bunch of vitamins and stuff in it to boost your immune system. Master Kitaro used to swear by it . . . and he was right. But then again, the old man usually was."

"He taught you a lot, huh?"

"Yup. He was sort of like a third father to me," Bae said. "When he died . . . I was a wreck for weeks. Every time I practiced katas I got choked up. I couldn't participate in any tournaments either, because I was too upset to concentrate. Once I cried during an entire workout, I felt like I was falling apart, like I'd lost everybody who'd ever meant anything to me. You, my papa, my mom and dad, and then Master Kitaro."

"How did you deal with that?" Emma asked, rubbing her stomach.

"It wasn't easy. But I started doing meditation again, and little by little I grieved and then made my peace with their loss. And . . . this might seem crazy, but . . . I had a dream one night, and in it, my mentor came to me and said, _hayabusa, I am at last where I ought to be, at peace with the One, and so are your parents. You honor us best by remembrance, not tears. Remember us and we shall never be lost to you._ I never forgot that dream, and afterwards I was able to put things in perspective. After that I got my act together and opened the first Fire Mountain, and taught my students the way Master Kitaro taught me. So I didn't do too bad for a street brat, now did I?"

"Bae, you did great," Emma smiled at him. "They'd be proud of you. And Rumple is too." She patted her stomach again. "And this baby will be too, just like I am and Henry is. Now let's get out that book and pick out some names, before this kid gets born without one and we end up calling it 'hey, you."

Bae smirked, then pulled the baby name book from the stack of books on the coffee table and began to page through it. "How about Gabriel for a boy? Or Alexander?"

"Not bad. How about Maya for a girl? Or Jaelle? Or David, after my dad?"

"Or Eva, after your grandma?" Bae suggested. "I like Robert too."

"Yeah, he could be Bobby R. Gold," Emma said.

"What's the R stand for?"

"Rumplestiltskin, of course," she replied, her eyes dancing.

"Aww, come on! The poor kid will be made fun of till the end of time," Bae chuckled.

"Why? Nobody has to know what it really stands for . . . except family," Emma smirked.

"How about Neal R. Gold?" Bae countered. "And a girl could be Eileen Swan Gold."

"I could just hear you now, come on, Eileen, come to papa!" Emma said, and then she cracked up.

"Maybe we ought to call her Larissa, it means laughter in Latin, and this baby sure makes you laugh," Bae pointed out, his eyes twinkling.

They continued bouncing names off each other, giggling at the stranger ones, excited as if they were first time parents, which they were, in a way.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

On the fifth day, Snow was much improved, and could finally get out of bed without feeling like a Mack truck had run her over. David was still at the inbetween sick and mending stage, so Snow stayed home to nurse him, bringing him soup in bed, water, tea, and some more of Bae's drink. He slept off and on, depending on the medicine he took, and while he did so, Snow finished wrapping the rest of Regina's presents from Santa, and contacting Archie about the breeder he'd gotten Pongo from, who had a litter of puppies ready to go home for Christmas.

Once she had made arrangements for a puppy to be picked up on Christmas Eve, Snow called Mr. Gold to see how Regina was doing. Emma had kept her updated when she came to see them, but Snow wanted to talk to Rumple herself and make sure her baby was okay.

"Mr. Gold speaking," Rumple answered his cell. "Hey, Snow. How are you feeling, dearie?"

"I'm getting better, Rumple. So's David, but he's sicker than I am right now. How's Regina?"

"She's finally starting to bounce back, but for awhile she was a sick little thing. Had me up for two nights running with her coughing and fever, but it finally broke today and she's starting to cough less too. Another two days and she ought to be her old bossypants self again."

Snow sighed in relief. "Thanks so much, Rumple. I know it wasn't easy, taking care of her with this busy holiday season starting."

"Alina was a big help to me, and Belle too. She made soup and fresh bread, which was mostly all I could get Regina to eat, since her throat was sore. That and ice pops. The little imp ate five of them in a row one afternoon."

"Oh, my goodness!"

"But that was okay, since she was too sick for the sugar to affect her like usual," Rumple chuckled. "Right now she's playing Memory with Alina and eating an eggnog cookie."

"That's good. I'm so glad she's getting better." Abruptly Snow yawned into the phone. "Sorry . . . all of a sudden I'm tired . . ."

"You get some rest, dearie. I'll see you on Friday," Gold said, thinking that Regina would be well just in time to make gingerbread houses with Alina, Henry, and their friends.

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Granny's Chicken Soup**

1 tablespoonbutter

1/2 cup diced carrot

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced celery

1 pinch salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 quarts roasted chicken broth

4 ounces uncooked wide egg noodles

2 cooked boneless chicken breast halves, cubed

1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste

**Directions**

Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Stir in carrot, onion, celery, salt, and fresh thyme. Stir in olive oil; cook and stir until the onions turn soft and translucent, 5 to 6 min. Stir in roasted chicken broth and bring to a boil, season to taste with salt, if necessary; stir in egg noodles and cook until tender, about 5 min stir in cooked chicken breast meat and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper to taste.


	12. Home Sweet Home

**12**

**Home Sweet Home**

That Friday afternoon, Belle went to get the mail and found more Christmas cards in the mailbox. Including one with the postscript from New York from the Tessaros. Smiling in remembrance of their time together in Little Italy, Belle brought the card in to show Rumple, who was setting up the table where the kids would make their gingerbread houses along with Alice. Alice and Belle had made the gingerbread houses the night before and glued them together with icing, letting them dry overnight.

A large plastic Christmas tablecloth covered the dining room table, it had red and white poinsettias on it and each place had a gingerbread house in front of it. There was one for Alina, Henry, Regina, Grace, Hans, and Ash.

In the middle of the table were several plastic trays and small bowls filled with all kinds of hard candies, M&M's, spearmint leaves, gum drops, ribbon candy, candy canes, Red Hots, little gingerbread men and women, marshmallow Christmas trees, snowmen, and reindeer. There were also chocolate kisses, mini Reeses, and mini marshmallows.

Next to the bowls and platters were plastic icing bags with tips, and a huge bowl of icing with a spoon inside, ready to be scooped into the icing bags.

Alice had hot cocoa ready in a large tea pot with a Santa hat cozy over it to keep it hot, and green and red marshmallows along with a tray of buckeyes, sugar cookies, and snickerdoodles. That was set on the Chippendale sideboard.

Belle entered the dining room, with its cherry chair rail and pretty gold striped wall paper, and the thick cream colored carpet. The antique cherry Chippendale chairs had clever gold cushions on them, sewn by Gold himself years ago.

"Rumple! Look, we got a Christmas card from the Tessaros!" she announced, looking fetching in her Donna Karin silver sweater with snowflakes on it and a gray wool skirt with her sheepskin slippers.

"Let me see, dearie," Rumple took the card, which was a pretty red envelope with a gold border. He turned it over to see that it was sealed, in the old fashioned way, with sealing wax and crescent moon and six stars pressed into the green wax. He felt the tingle of magic as he broke the seal and drew out a pretty invitation with embossed holly and a gold stocking on the front.

Suddenly, the invitation shimmered with golden motes of magic, and music began to play and youthful tenor began singing, "Buon Natale means Merry Christmas to you, Buon Natale to everyone, Happy New Year and lots of fun, Buon Natale may all your wishes come true, Buon Natale in Italy means a Merry Christmas to you!"

Belle and Rumple smiled as the song ended and Strega Nona's voice said, "Hello, Rumple! And your famiglia also! We hope this season finds you all in good health and in the mood for a party. This is our annual Christmas invitation to come down for a real Italian Christmas party and to see the tree at Rockefeller Center on December 17th. That's a Saturday, and all you'll need to do it throw this invitation into a doorway and speak the words Buon Natale Strega Nona and a portal shall open to take you to our restaurant. See you soon, _cara mia_! _Arrivaderci_!"

Then the same voice who'd been singing came on. "Mr. Gold, this is Luca. Just wanted to let you know, Nona made me sing for you . . . even though I really hate singing for anybody except family . . ."

"Rumple, ignore my grandson, he's got a _belissimo_ voice, no?" Nona cackled.

Then the magic sparkles surrounding the missive vanished and Rumple held only an invitation with the words _You're invited to the Tessaro's annual Christmas gala on December 17th, 2013. Buon Natale!_

"Well, that answers your question if we're going to New York this Christmas, dearie," Rumple said to Belle, folding the invitation and putting it in his pocket.

Belle grinned like a little girl. "I can't wait to see them all again, Rumple! We had such a good time with them before."

"That we did, love. And we will again. I'll have to look for something special in my shop to give Nona as hostess," Rumple said, his eyes sparkling.

"Just wait till Regina finds out," Belle snickered. "She'll be so happy. Now she can see Stefan again."

"Matchmaking already, dearie?" Rumple smirked.

"No. Regina's already done that," Belle stated.

"We're going to have a wonderful time," her husband predicted. Then he turned back to the table and surveyed it, making sure everything was set out for the big event.

In years past, before the curse broke, Rumple had done gingerbread houses with Alina, Henry, and Grace, then known as Paige. But he found he was looking forward to seeing what their friends and Regina came up with this year.

Soon Alina, Henry, and Grace came home with Emma, and Bae showed up a moment later with Hans and Ash.

The children all greeted Rumple and Belle cheerily, with Grace, Hans, and Ash wishing the couple a Merry Christmas also.

"Whoa!" Hans whistled as he looked around the living room at the Christmas decorations and the roses and ivy climbing up the walls and various flowers and butterflies fluttering all over. "It's like a living greenhouse in here. How awesome, Mr. Gold!" He was wearing neatly pressed jeans and a red button down shirt and his good loafers, the same as if he was working at Gold's shop. His sandy hair was mussed a little though, and his blue eyes were wide in fascination.

Ash held out his hand and a butterfly landed on it. "It's like a conservatory. Neat!" His amber eyes glowed as he smiled, his shock of red hair matching the red festive bows along the mantle. He had on a green sweater and gray slacks with brown Uggs.

"That's due to my wife," Gold said. "She likes her flowers, and since she's expecting, I remodeled for her." He turned then and retrieved a folded blue object from the recliner next to the couch. "Henry, here's the sweater I promised you."

Henry took the sky blue Arran sweater and pulled it on over his red turtleneck. "Thanks, Grandpa!" he went and hugged Rumple. "It's great!"

"I've got a pink one like that," Alina said, recalling the sweater Rumple had made for her last year. She was wearing her favorite pink sweatshirt with its teacup on it and Jordache pink jeans and sneakers.

"You're welcome, Henry," Rumple said, and ruffled his hair before releasing him. "I gave Regina hers yesterday, before I took her home."

"Where is Regina, Papa?" asked Alina.

"She'll be here soon. I think Snow wanted to wait until David got out of work before coming here," Rumple replied. "In the meantime, why don't you all sit down and have some cocoa and cookies?"

As the children went to sit down, Nala came into the room to see who was there, twitching her whiskers curiously.

The sleek black kitten was nearly fully-grown now, though she was still a small creature, with her huge green eyes and delicate bone structure. She padded silently into the dining room, surveyed the people there, and promptly leaped onto Gold's shoulder.

Rumple automatically stroked the kitten, murmuring, "Hey, Nala. How's my good girl?"

Nala rubbed happily against his hand, purring.

"Is that your cat, Mr. Gold?" Ash wanted to know, his amber eyes alight with curiosity.

"This is Nala," Gold said, petting her under her chin.

Ash came over and held out a hand. "Hey, pretty kitty. Mind if I pet you?"

Nala sniffed the boy's fingers, then purred and nuzzled him.

"She likes you," Gold said, surprised.

"Most animals do," Ash said modestly, gently petting the kitten.

"Big surprise there," snorted Hans.

Ash ignored him, continuing to pet Nala.

Until there came a knock at the door and Nala suddenly jumped down and ran to hide behind the sofa.

"Did I do something wrong?" Ash asked sadly.

"No. Nala just knows Regina's coming," Gold told him, then went to open the door to admit the Charmings.

"Unca Rumple, I's ba-a-ck!" Regina trilled, and rushed in the door to hug him about the knees. She was wearing the lavender sweater he'd knitted her, which bore a small appliquéd "R" on the left side in gold medieval-esque script. It was paired with an adorable jean skirt and striped white and purple tights with black shoes.

"Already, dearie?" he laughed, picking her up and hugging her. "It's like you never left!"

Snow started giggling as she followed her daughter inside. She was wearing a pretty red shirt with Christmas trees on it and white pants with black boots and her white coat. She had little tinkling bells in her ears and greeted Rumple with a sweet smile and a hug. "You're a lifesaver, Rumple. Thanks so much for taking care of her."

"No trouble, dearie," he answered. "Or at least, not much."

"You can say that again," David grinned, clapping Gold on the shoulder and taking off his Lands End blue jacket and hanging it in the coat closet. He was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans and his hiking boots. "I can't remember ever being so sick in my life."

"That's a nasty strain going around," Rumple nodded, shutting the door after the mayor had entered. "Victor said they've got over sixty patients in their infectious disease ward and he's got a team working on a vaccine, but it's difficult to isolate this strain, as it mutates damn fast."

"You're lucky you can't get it," Charming said.

"That's one of the perks of being a magician, dearie," Rumple shrugged. He had on his ivory sweater and gray Armani trousers with his Gucci loafers.

"Unca Rumple, are we makin' gingerbread houses?" Regina queried.

"We sure are. Why don't you say hi to Alina, Henry, and their friends?" Gold said, and set her on her feet.

Regina raced into the dining room, yelling, "He-ey, Alina! Lookit my new sweater!" She spun around like she was in a fashion show. "Unca Rumple made it for me!"

Alina grinned. "I know. I watched while he knitted it."

"It looks adorable on you!" Grace said, wearing a pretty green and red striped dress with a jaunty elf hat on her blond hair.

"It's purple, my fav'rite color," Regina told her. "What's yours, Grace?"

"Um . . . blue, mostly."

"Like Auntie Belle," Regina crowed happily.

Henry chuckled and said, "See, Regina. Grandpa made me one too."

"Cool! Now we's like twins!"

"Uh . . . kind of," Henry said, looking embarrassed.

Hans chuckled, then said, "Hey, princess, c'mere and give me a high five." He held out a hand.

Regina ran up and smacked his palm with hers. "Hiya, Hans! Are you gonna make a house too?"

"Sure I am."

She turned to look at Ash. "Ash, how's Reggie doin'? I haven't seen him 'cause I was sick with a flu an' had to stay in bed over here."

"He's good, Regina. I fed him lots of corn and some carrots from you," Ash said, referring to Regina's turkey, who had been pardoned by David from becoming a Thanksgiving dinner and now lived at the convent in a special pen. Ash helped Regina take care of Reggie, as he was the son of Mr. Fox, who owned the turkey farm on 108 Mifflin Street, and knew all about turkeys.

"Good. I'm glad he didn't starve or nothin' while I was sick," she told him.

"I'd never let that happen," Ash assured her, for despite his former life as a fox cub back in the Enchanted Forest, he was kind to animals. He also worked as a volunteer for the Storybrooke Animal Shelter and sometimes for the vet Dr. Doolittle.

"I'm so glad that school's almost out," Hans said, since school was not on his top ten places to be. He took another sugar cookie from the plate on the table and ate it.

"Me too," Ash agreed.

"Christmas vacation ought to be fun," Grace said.

"I've heard it's supposed to snow a lot for Christmas," Alina predicted.

"Yeah, and if it snow before Christmas, we might have school get canceled," Henry said hopefully.

"Snow day!" cried Hans. "Now that'd be awesome!"

Regina climbed up on the chair that Alina indicated was for her. She examined her gingerbread house for a minute before reaching out and taking a buckeye in one hand and a snickerdoodle in the other. "Mmm!"

"Want some cocoa, sweetie?" asked Belle, and she poured Regina some in a small sippy cup and added some marshmallows to it.

The toddler paused in eating her candy and drank some cocoa, which was Rumple's special one. "I love this cocoa, Auntie Belle!" she told her aunt, her little face smeared with chocolate.

"You also love making a mess," Snow sighed, and went to wipe her daughter's face with a wet dishcloth.

"Mommy, I's eatin!" the child objected, making the other children chuckle.

"Be careful, Regina, before you get chocolate on your new sweater," Snow said, and tied a large apron about her.

While Belle and Alice filled up the icing tubes, Bae, Charming, and Rumple went into the kitchen to watch football on the set in there and drink their own cocoa and cookies.

Emma took hers into the den and put on the TV, watching the current Christmas special, which was Prancer, and eating cookies as she did so.

Henry went and found the remote to the Bose and switched the music to inside and began to play a channel featuring alternate versions of popular Christmas songs. The 12 Pains of Christmas began to play.

"The first thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me . . . is finding a Christmas tree!"

"I love this song!" laughed Hans. "It's so true . . . and so funny!"

The others all nodded and soon began to sing along with it.

"Hangovers!" Henry warbled.

"Sending Christmas cards!" Ash added.

"Rigging up the lights!" Alina sang.

"Five months of bills!" Grace came next.

"Facing my inlaws," Hans recalled.

"I want red farmer for Cwistmas!" Regina came last, singing in her shrill soprano.

That made everyone laugh, and they all sang the lines to the song until the end.

Then more songs came on, like "The Restroom Door Said Gentlemen" and "Wreck the Malls."

The children were clapping and laughing at the crazy lyrics while they were putting icing on their houses and decorating them with all the candy on the table.

Regina, however, didn't have quite the control she needed to manipulate the icing tube, and consequently called Henry to help her.

As her nephew came and assisted her, putting a line on the roof and outlining the windows and door, a very naughty version of Jingle Bells sung by the rapper Eminem came on.

At first the kids were snickering at the lyrics, forgetting that Regina was there listening.

Ash quit laughing after the line where it said they'd be snacking on Blitzen and Donner.

Regina gasped and cried, "They's gonna _eat_ Santa's reindeer?"

"Henry, you'd better change the station," Alina began.

Henry put down Regina's icing tube to go and grab the remote, just as Belle walked in as the song said, "Giving new meaning to ho ho ho, shake your ass, baby, bumpin' your booty in the snow!"

"My God!" she cried, blushing. "What kind of song is that?"

Bae and Rumple came in to get some more cookies and heard, "So watch out Santa, ya jolly old troll, we'll be strippin' that sleigh and leave ya with the coal!"

Bae's eyes went wide, and he said, "Henry, give me that remote, quick!"

"Dad, I can't find it!" Henry cried.

" . . .before we roast his nuts over a big ass fire . . ."

"Time to change the station, dearies," Rumple said, and twitched his hand, switching the music to something more traditional.

"Unca Rumple! That song had a bad word in it!" Regina informed him.

"More than that," Rumple frowned, shaking his head. He silently thanked goodness Regina was too young to understand what the song was saying. "Who put that on?"

"I didn't know that was coming on, Grandpa," Henry said. "I just wanted to hear some funny Christmas songs."

"Next time ask me before you play around with my Bose," Gold reprimanded, then he summoned the remote to him.

"Yeah, you really don't want Regina singing Eminem," Bae remarked. "I don't even want you listening to it, Henry."

"Bae, who writes such awful things for a Christmas carol?" Belle demanded as they went back into the kitchen.

"That's Eminem for you, Mama. He's a rapper, and half of what he sings isn't fit for kids' ears . . . and sometimes even adult ears," Bae explained.

"I thought that was a candy," Belle remarked.

Bae chuckled. "Don't get them confused now, Mama."

Now listening to more traditional Christmas songs, like "All I Want For Christmas" and "Silver Bells", the children focused on their houses.

Alina made a lattice with her icing on her roof, then put all kinds of colored round hard candies in the middle of each one and gum drops along the sides and the walk.

Henry had icicles dripping off his roof and Santa on top going down the chimney.

Hans's house had shingles on the roof made of bits of chocolate and hills of snow with marshmallow snowmen and Christmas trees.

Grace was making a candy Ferris wheel to put next to her house, which was decorated with Red Hots.

Ash had his house surrounded by reindeer and trees, with a campfire made out of pretzel logs and mini marshmallows over it.

Snow had to help Regina with hers, gluing candy on it and putting snowmen on the roof, throwing marshmallow snowballs at each other.

While she was doing that, Regina was eating some of the candy, stuffing her face with Hershey kisses and Skittles.

Ash started laughing when he saw that. "Hey, you're supposed to decorate the house, not eat the decorations, Regina."

"But I yikes these!" the little girl said through a mouthful of chocolate and marshmallows.

"Regina!" Snow chuckled. "You eat any more candy and you'll give yourself a tummyache."

"Then I'll have to give you some of my medicine," Rumple said, as he came in to see how everyone was doing.

Regina shook her head. "Nuh uh, Unca Rumple!"

Snow shook the tube of frosting and frowned. "What's wrong with this? It's stuck."

"Mommy, I help!" her daughter said, and grabbed the tube from her.

"Let me see, imp," Rumple walked over to her.

Just as Regina squeezed the plastic tube really hard.

Frosting suddenly shot out . . . and hit Rumple right in the face.

Hans and Ash gasped, sure the former imp was going to be angry and start yelling . . . or using magic.

"Oops!" Regina said, a devilish smirk on her face.

"Regina!" Snow cried. "Now look what you've done. Rumple, here's a towel . . ." she went to hand him one, trying not to giggle at the fact that he now had frosting covering his nose and dripping down his chin.

Rumple lifted a hand, wiping the frosting off, and then said, "You think you can have your cake and eat it too, huh, imp?" He promptly tweaked Regina's nose, getting frosting on it.

A giggling Regina promptly went to lick it off. "Mmm! It's good!"

"Marshmallow cream, dearie," her uncle said, licking some off his finger. Then he wriggled a hand and the frosting vanished from his face. "How lovely your house looks."

Regina beamed at him. "It's a snowmen house, Unca Rumple! And Mommy helped."

Her house looked a little lopsided, with candy stuck every which way, and except for the snowman on the roof, a hodgepodge of gumdrops, Skittles, kisses and marshmallows.

"I think it's a beautiful house," Snow praised. "All of your houses look wonderful."

"And they'll look even better after this," Rumple said, and gestured.

Suddenly, Regina's snowmen came "alive" and began throwing marshmallow snowballs at one another.

The Ferris wheel on Grace's house began to slowly spin around and around.

Henry's Santa cried, "Merry Christmas!" and jumped down his chimney . . . only to emerge a second later and do it all over again.

Ash's reindeer ate the frosting "snow" and ran about his house, which resembled the Storybrooke Animal Shelter.

Hans' gingerbread men fought a snow war with his snowmen in the yard.

And in Alina's yard, all the gingerbread girls joined hands and sang "Ring-around-the-Rosy" and danced in a circle.

All the children cheered and clapped and Regina squealed, "Mommy, my snowmen's playin'!"

"Cool, Mr. Gold!" Hans said.

"Thanks, Rumple!" Grace cried, watching her candy Ferris wheel in awe.

"Just a little Christmas magic for you," the sorcerer said, smiling.

"What's this? Your houses are alive?" David asked, coming in to see what all the fuss was about. "Neat!"

"You did a really good job, guys," Bae said.

"That's for sure," Emma came over as well. "Better than I could've."

"You all deserve a blue ribbon," Alice agreed, coming in with a refill of hot cocoa. "Right, Belle?"

"Absolutely," her friend nodded, and then pulled some rosettes from her pocket and handed them out to each child.

"Thanks, Mrs. Gold!" chorused Hans and Ash.

Belle admired the children's creativity for a moment more, as well as the animations her husband had cast, then said, "Now who wants chicken nuggets and pizza bagels for lunch?"

"And French fries?" Alice added.

It was a unanimous vote . . . from everyone in the room.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

While the children ate their chicken nuggets with fries and barbecue sauce or honey mustard or ranch dressing, the TV began showing another popular Christmas special—"A Christmas Story."

"This movie's the best!" Ash declared as he ate a pizza bagel.

"And it's on all day on Christmas," Hans remarked, eating a chicken nugget.

They watched while they ate, giggling softly.

Emma came in to ask if they needed more soda or lemonade to drink, and Henry said, "Hey, Mom. I want a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas!"

Emma cocked an eyebrow at him and replied, "Don't be ridiculous, kid. You'll shoot your eye out!"

"Yeah, you'll shoot your eye out!" Hans whooped. "You tell 'em, Sheriff Gold!"

"Or you'll shoot someone else's eye out," Grace snickered.

"Aww, man! Then I'll ask Gran!" Henry grinned, then ducked as Emma ruffled his hair.

"Ask me what?" Snow queried.

"To get me a BB gun for Christmas," her grandson answered.

"Henry! You could shoot your eye out with one of those things," she gasped.

Everyone promptly cracked up.

"What? What'd I say?" Snow asked, puzzled.

"Just watch the movie, Mom," Emma told her, still laughing.

A few minutes later, Hans said, "Now this is the best part! The triple dog dare."

"And I could see you really doing it, Mason!" Ash hooted.

Hans glared at him. "Aw, be quiet, Fox! I'm not that stupid!"

Regina gasped then cried, "Unca Rumple! Daddy! That boy's tongue is stuck on the pole!"

"You know . . . I knew a kid who did that once . . . and got his tongue stuck to a pennant pole," David remarked.

Rumple shook his head. "If any of you are stupid enough to try that, I'll leave you stuck there till the spring thaw."

"How'd he get it off, David?" asked Belle.

"Uh . . . very warm water and . . . I can't really remember now . . ." the former prince said. "Just the lecture by our page master afterwards when he threatened to snip off the tip of any of our tongues if we ever tried it."

"That's horrible!"

"Yeah, well, it scared us enough not to try it," Charming shrugged. "And with ten-year-old boys sometimes that's a good thing."

"Sometimes fear's a great motivator," Bae agreed. "Like the time you told me a water demon would eat my foot off if I went and jumped in the lake when I was four, Papa."

"It was the only thing I could think of to keep you from drowning, since half the time I couldn't catch you when you wandered off somewhere," Rumple said. "And it worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah . . . until I was thirteen and Jerry Thatcher told me there was a mermaid in the lake," Bae laughed. "And half of us nearly drowned trying to see her without her seashell top in the moonlight."

Charming cracked up. "You mean, you did that too?"

Rumple rolled his eyes. "Teenage boys! God help us all!"

"Well, at least they weren't trying to peek into the girls' dorm while we were changing and chanting "there's a place in France where you can see girls' underpants . . ." Emma recalled.

"Oh, they tried that too once," Alice recalled. "Remember, Belle? When they cut a hole in the curtain where us kitchen girls went to change if we spilled something on ourselves?"

"Yes, and then one day you got Old Margie in there instead, and they thought it was one of the pretty young kitchen maids, and when those boys pressed their eye to the hole . . . I think they ran away like they were blinded by Medusa!" Belle giggled.

"Scarred for life!" Alice chortled. "And served them right!"

"Oh my God! That's priceless!" Emma said, and then doubled over laughing.

"You know, I'm _really_ glad I never grew up with those two," David remarked.

"You'd better believe it, dearie," Rumple chuckled. "They were hell on wheels."

"Oh, yeah? You ain't no angel yourself, Mr. G," Alice snorted. "I'll bet you cut up plenty when you were a kid."

"Well . . . there was the time when all us apprentice weavers got together and we stole Mistress Griselda's undergarments and pinned them to the notice board on the village green with a sign saying "Lost My Dignity, Please Help Me Find It." Rumple admitted.

"Papa! You . . . went on a panty raid?" Bae gasped.

"It wasn't just me! There were four of us!" Rumple protested. "And we couldn't stand the old witch. She used to beat our hands with a ruler when we tangled up our yarn. And she looked down her nose and sniffed at us whenever she came by to examine our looms . . . like we were dirt or something . . ."

"Did you get caught?" Alice wanted to know.

Rumple shook his head, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "No one saw us, we did it in the dead of night. And the next morning . . . I swear, even old Throckmeril the reeve almost passed out laughing . . . because everyone knew whose they were, since she was the only woman vain enough in the whole village to wear red panties and a corset!"

"You sly dog, you!" Alice giggled, then she gave Rumple a high five.

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Gingerbread Cake**

Cream Together

1/2 cup shortening

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup molasses

2 large eggs

In a separate bowl mix

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 ground cloves

2/3 cup sour milk (add 3 1/2 teaspoons vinegar to whole milk)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease and flour an 8" square pan (or use Pam).

The ingredients listed under "cream together" should be added one ingredient at a time, creaming in between each addition.

When you have finished adding/creaming all the liquid ingredients, keep beating the liquid mixture, folding in the dry mixture, alternating with the 2/3 cup sour milk.

Once everything is mixed in, pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350°. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the middle.

When it comes out clean, it's done.


	13. Blue and Gold Moments

**13**

**Blue and Gold Moments**

On December 13th, Belle had another appointment with her OB/GYN, Dr. Jo, a lively woman who was on a mostly first name basis with many of her patients, especially those like Belle, who were expecting twins for the first time. Jo had been a midwife, magical healer, and herbalist back in their old world, and had a sweet manner and was very competent with both mothers-to-be and their husbands as well. She was a dark-haired woman in her early fifities, and had the extraordinar skill of being able to calm nervous parents and relax them.

Rumple and Belle liked her immensely, she had been extremely patient with them both on his first visit with Belle, answering all their questions honestly and openly, explaining everything she and her staff were going to do before they did it, and being very reassuring. She, unlike half of Storybrooke, did not seem to care that Gold had once been the Dark One, she just shrugged and said they'd all been cursed and so had he, and what mattered was now, not the past. "You're here for me to help you and to help your babies, and that's what I'm going to do."

She had kept her word. Now Rumple drove Belle to her appointment, and waited in the waiting room while the doctor examined Belle and spoke with her for a little bit, before one of the nurses called him in so he could watch the sonogram.

He had done so before, but it never ceased to amaze him that a machine could take such detailed brilliant pictures of babies in the womb. It was incredible . . . this world's most powerful magic.

"Hello, Rumple!" Dr. Jo greeted him with a smile.

Belle was already lying on the exam table with a pink drape about her, while a nurse rubbed some gel on her belly.

"Hi, Dr. Jo. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, mama and babies are doing fine," she assured him. "Are you all ready for Christmas?"

"Almost," he said. "How about you?"

"Yes. I'm having a quiet little celebration with Dr. Hopper this year," she replied. Her dark eyes twinkled. "It should be fun, considering we only have each other."

"You have no family here?" Gold asked.

She shook her head. "I'm a widow and my children . . . one died of pneumonia as a baby and my daughter . . . was drafted into the Ogre Wars, over my vehement protests . . . The duke's men . . . knocked me out and took my Marian away. She was thirteen then . . . she never came home. It's one reason why . . . this is my calling. I bring babies into the world to honor the children I lost . . ." She blinked and grabbed a tissue from the counter.

"I'm so sorry," Rumple apologized. "I didn't mean to open old wounds, Dr. Jo."

"It's not your fault. It happened long ago . . . I've made my peace with it. And that's why I will never permit anyone to say anything against you, Rumple. Because though you were cursed, you ended that horrible war, where children went to die on the spears and swords of monsters, all at the whim of some idiot lord, who can never pay enough for the lives he stole from those of us who had children taken away. And whatever your cursed self did afterwards, first you brought the children home, where they belonged, and for that I shall always be grateful."

"I wish I could have saved your daughter too," Rumple said regretfully.

"You couldn't. She was one of the first ones they stole, long before you ever gained the power of the dagger," Dr. Jo said. "It's the duke and his men I blame, and they're lucky the duke himself is dead and most of his men also, or else I'd have poisoned them all if I'd had the chance. Wars are fought by grown men and women, not our children. I've always believed that, and it hasn't changed. The atrocity that man committed . . . is worse than anything you did as the Dark One. But enough of sad stories. This is a time to be joyful . . . and you have much to be joyful for, Rumple. You have a healthy wife and two fine little ones. Let's show them to you. Tessa, start the sonogram, please."

Dr. Jo took the scanner and placed it over Belle's tummy, and then said, "Okay, Belle and Rumple. Look at the screen over there. Can you see them?"

Rumple gazed in amazement at the screen, which was a 3D color display, and said, "Look, Belle! I see one of them! Look at the tiny hand, it's sucking on a thumb!"

"And look at the little eyelashes, Rumple!" Belle pointed out, her own voice trembling in awe. "And see the hair on her . . . or him. It's brown . . . like yours."

"Do you see the baby's face?" Dr. Jo asked, moving the scanner slightly. "See, the baby's mouth is sucking on its hand. And over here you can see twin number 2, this one's upside down right now. See the little foot? And the leg?"

"What's that . . . wriggly thing?" Rumple asked.

"Umbilical cord," Dr. Jo answered. "And that dark blot behind the baby is the placenta."

"One twin is curled up on their side," Belle observed. "I can see his or her arm and little bottom. Rumple, see, the baby's moving!"

The second twin shifted, kicking out slightly with a foot. It poked up against Belle's tummy, creating a small mound before disappearing as the baby pulled it back.

"You've got a very active little one there," Dr. Jo laughed. "That's good though."

"Should they be so restless, Dr. Jo?" asked Belle. "It seems like one or the other is always jumping around in there . . . right on my bladder."

"Yes, I know. But things are starting to get a mite cramped in there, honey. And they're getting anxious to be born. You're due soon . . . in January, so this is a good sign." The doctor moved the scanner again, showing them more pictures.

"Then they're healthy, Dr. Jo?" Rumple asked, trying to see if he could spot any fairy traits. But so far the babies looked normal.

"Oh, yes, Rumple. Nice size for twins, and their development is good as well. Look, one just reached out and held the other's hand."

"Oh! They do that even at this stage?" Belle gasped, her eyes wide with joy.

"Yes. Are you sure you don't want to know the sex of them?" asked the OB/GYN.

Belle looked at Rumple. "Would you like to know?"

"I . . . well . . . if you do, dearie."

Belle considered, then she said, "No. I want . . . I want to be surprised, Dr. Jo. The way I would if we were back in our old realm."

"I understand, Belle."

"Do you know what they are?" Rumple asked.

"I sure do," Dr. Jo chuckled. "But my lips are sealed."

"I don't mind waiting," Rumple assured her. "As long as they and Belle are healthy."

"Which they are. Hold on, and I'll get you a picture of their faces to take with you," Dr. Jo said, and had her tech take a picture and print it. "Here you go, Belle! Here's one for your baby book."

Belle took the picture and smiled at it. "Oh, Rumple! How precious they are!"

Rumple took the picture and studied it, his eyes misty. "They're perfect, dearie. Just like their mama."

"_And_ their papa," Belle said firmly. "I can't wait to show Emma and the rest of the family. These pictures are so amazing! You can see everything, just as if they were right here with us."

"Well, in a way, they are," the doctor said. "You're doing great, Belle, and I'll see you in another week and a half, after Christmas. Have a merry one!"

"You too, Dr. Jo," Belle smiled at her, as the tech shut off the sonogram machine and wiped off her belly.

**Page~*~*~*~Break**

"I'm sending her a gift basket," Rumple said to Belle as they drove home to pick up Alina. "I had no idea she had lost a child in the Ogre Wars."

"I didn't either. What a terrible tragedy!" Belle murmured sadly. "And yet . . . she's managed to pick up the pieces and go on. She's such a compassionate woman."

"Strong too. Like someone else I could name," Rumple stated. "I hope Archie makes her happy."

"So do I. She deserves it," Belle said feelingly. "She's one of the few people outside of our family who doesn't judge you by your past."

Rumple just nodded. They had another visit to make today, and this one he wasn't looking forward to. But Alina was going to work at the soup kitchen today, along with Henry, Grace, and Hans, as part of their community service for stealing Fox's flock of turkeys before Thanksgiving. And since they would be dropping her off at the convent, Belle thought it was a good idea to speak to Blue about the babies and their possible fairy powers.

Lately, she'd been having more episodes, where she dreamed she was flying . . . and sometimes woke to find herself floating in midair! And other times she craved rosepetal jam, honey, fresh bread, and tea like there was no tomorrow. Flowers seemed to burst into bloom around her as well, and she found she could sometimes understand Nala when she purred. Once, Rumple had caught her waving a twig around and tapping some flowers and saying, "I bless thee!" also. Sometimes she couldn't bear to be around cooked meat, it turned her stomach, though a month ago she craved spicy chili and tacos.

She wanted to ask Blue if such things were normal after being exposed to pixie dust. And she knew Rumple had questions of his own, which was why she'd insisted he accompany her. There would be no more secrets . . . and she wanted Rumple to understand what she was going through.

After bidding Alina goodbye, as she was led to the refectory by Sister Astrid, Rumple and Belle made their way to Mother Superior's office.

Blue's office was like Blue herself, austere and plain, without frills. A simple oak desk dominated the room, with its bare stone floor and single bookshelf on the side of the stained glass window. Two chairs were on either side of the desk, and Blue was behind the desk going through some paperwork when they entered.

"Belle," Blue's demeanor softened somewhat as they saw the pregnant woman. Then she hardened as she saw who else was with her. "Rumplestiltskin. What brings you here today?"

"We'd like to talk to you, dearie. About the effects the pixie dust might have had upon our babies," Rumple began.

"I've told Belle before what could happen—"

"Yes. And now I want you to tell me," Rumple said softly, his eyes suddenly hard with suspicion.

Blue waved her wand at the door and it shut. "You needn't act like I'm keeping information from you, Gold," she said shortly.

"That remains to be seen, dearie," he answered.

"Have a seat," she indicated the chairs.

They sat down, and Belle found she was twisting her hands in her lap, the way she sometimes did when nervous. It struck her then that she wasn't nervous for herself, but for Rumple. She knew this was hard for him, to be here in the stronghold of the Blue Fairy, a being he'd once considered his enemy, even more so than Regina had been, because Blue had separated him from Bae and then refused to help him find the boy again.

She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it gently. She gave him a look that said without words—_I'm here for you._

Rumple found he was both apprehensive and annoyed—at himself for feeling that way, and at Blue for making him feel that way. But he drew comfort from the touch of Belle's hand in his, and he cleared his throat and began, "First, I would like to know why you didn't inform Belle more . . . clearly about the dangers of the pixie dust."

"I _did_ do that," Blue said, rather sharply. "I told Snow there was a slight chance she could be affected by the dust."

"A slight chance is putting it mildly!" Rumple hissed.

"How was I to know the way a magical substance affects a human?" snapped Mother Superior.

"You're the authority on fairy dust, dearie! It's your job to know. Just as I knew precisely how one of my potions or spells affected someone," Rumple shot back.

"It's not an exact thing! Not like your dark magic!"

Rumple shifted in his seat. "Magic is magic, Blue. And whether you like to admit it or not, dark and light magic are the same . . . the thing that differs is how it's used. So you should know about the way the dust affects a pregnant woman and her babies . . . seeing as you knew it would affect her at all."

"Don't accuse me of negligence. There wasn't time for me to figure it out. Your plane was crashing, thanks to your feud with a dark sorcerer, and I saved you," Blue pointed out stingingly.

"I saved us too, dearie, let's not forget that," Rumple growled. "Or rather, my apprentices did."

"Rumple, please," Belle interrupted. "Let's not split hairs here. That's not important. Blue, please tell my husband what we can expect with our babies having fairy-like powers."

Blue sighed. "It's difficult to say, since this is the first time I know of a human fetus being affected by the dust so profoundly. We usually avoid contact with humans while they are carrying, only coming to see them after the baby is born . . . for obvious reasons."

"So you're telling me you don't know?" Rumple demanded. "That you've no records of this happening before, in all your history? But if we're the first ones . . . then how did you even know the dust would affect our babies? There must have been someone before us who was affected by pixie dust. What happened to their children?"

"To have a child like that is very rare," Blue acknowledged. "The one or two cases before this . . .weren't documented very well. All I can say is that your children may or may not be able to do the following things—cause plants to grow rapidly, fly, speak with animals, in rare cases, grant wishes. They may have physical traits—pointed ears, enhanced senses, wings."

"And when you found out Belle was affected . . . when she came to you before Thanksgiving, why didn't you bother doing research on it?"

"I had other things to focus on then."

"What other things? I would think your priority would be in discovering new traits of the dust . . . and how it could affect people so next time you were prepared," Rumple argued.

"Most people aren't ever in the situation you were in," Blue snorted. "Besides, you ought to be glad your children will have our magic. It's far better than inheriting your dark powers."

Rumple stiffened. "I don't have dark powers any longer. Besides, the power of the dagger is broken and even if it wasn't, I can't pass it down, like eye color, dearie. It doesn't work like that. You'd know that if you bothered to study on it."

Blue eyed him coldly. "I don't bother to study dark magic. It's a waste of time."

"Really, dearie? Maybe if you did, you'd help your fairies understand how to defend against it. Know thy enemy," Rumple sneered.

"I know my enemy!" she snapped, nettled. "And I repeat, you ought to be glad those children take after our kind and not you . . . Dark One! In fact, we ought to teach them ourselves, so we make sure they stay pure and uninfluenced by their father's darkness . . ."

"_What?_" Rumple cried, outraged. "Over my dead body will you do anything to my children! And how dare you imply I'd ever bring harm to my children?"

The Blue Fairy laughed mockingly. "How dare I? When it was you who drove away your own son? Who made him so desperate to leave his own father that he sought me out?"

"That's not how it was! Yes, I did frighten Bae with my cursed self, but he never wanted to leave me. He wanted me to come with him to a land without magic . . . something that _you_ encouraged him to do, by giving him a magic bean."

"And what of it? It was a possible solution . . ."

"But not the only one," Rumple pointed out. "What was wrong with using True Love's Kiss?"

"It wouldn't have worked. The boy no longer loved you. He only wanted to be free of you. That's why I suggested the bean."

"You're wrong! He did love me . . ." Rumple protested, feeling his soul shrivel as he recalled those early years of the curse.

"Then why would he seek a chance to leave you? He was running scared. And no wonder. You were a monster . . . and his best bet was to leave you behind forever."

"What . . . are you saying?" Rumple hissed, his heart cold within him.

"That you were an unfit father and it was best for your son, Baelfire, to leave you," she replied coldly.

"Is that what you told him?" demanded Rumple furiously. "That he should leave me?"

"The choice was his . . . as are all choices," the Blue Fairy answered.

"Don't split hairs with _me_, Rheul Gorm!" spat the angry sorcerer. "You gave him the bean and suggested he use it to go to another world . . . without me."

"I gave him a choice . . . and he chose to try and make you come with him. I could have told him that wouldn't work. You were already oblivious to him, all you cared about was power . . ." she accused.

"How _dare_ you say that?" Belle suddenly spoke up, her blue eyes flashing. "He took the dagger curse to _save_ Bae, to save all those children who were dying in the wars! There was nothing selfish in that act! He did more to save those children than you did . . .so don't you say he wasn't a good father! He sacrificed himself for his child! Like any good parent would if given a choice! It's not his fault the curse changed him."

"You've always been blind, like all those who love," Blue began condescendingly.

Belle drew herself upright, her face suddenly sharp and hard. "They say love is blind because love sees more than what's on the outside. It sees into the true heart of things! And the truth is that he was a good man before he took that curse, and a part of him remained good even with it. I've always seen it, even when he was a beast. Love isn't always beautiful, it isn't always perfect. I've known handsome men who were more cruel and evil than my husband ever was . . . the duke is a good example of one!"

"The duke saved people from the ogres," Blue objected.

"He also sent thousands of unwilling children to their deaths!" Rumple objected. "And yet you consider him good? Even as the Dark One, I never harmed a child!"

"You drove away your own son!"

"And I regretted it the moment it occurred! But you—you never even gave me a chance. When I came to you that day, you refused to help me, even though I was desperate. You and yours are supposed to help those in need. Yet you refused to help me!"

"Me? Help the perverted imp? Baelfire was better off without you then."

"You see, Belle? She's a judgmental hypocrite, assuming she knows best for everyone. And this is why I don't deal with her . . . or those under her!"

"Because you know I'm right, Rumplestiltskin!"

"No, you're not," Belle declared icily. "You only think you are. You made a judgment about Baelfire and Rumple's relationship before you even knew anything concrete about it. I know Bae, and he'll tell you the reason why he came to you for help wasn't so he could get away from his papa, but to _help_ him become free of his curse, to go back to the good man he was. But that wasn't what you wanted to hear, was it? You're right, Bae was scared of what Rumple had become . . . but he never wanted to leave him. He loved his papa and he wanted to save him."

"And look how that turned out! Your husband was a coward who took the easy way out . . ."

"My husband is no coward!" Belle snarled. "Learn the meaning of the word! A coward by definition cares only for himself, fears for his own life. He doesn't do what Rumple did! He doesn't risk himself for anyone, or put himself in danger. But my husband did! Nothing about his choice was ever easy! He could have taken the easy way out . . . and let those bloody soldiers take Bae! He could have run off and left his son alone. He didn't. That's not the act of a coward! You and those like you don't know what true cowardice is! But I can tell you. It's standing there and _watching_ while someone commits a terrible act and then doing _nothing_. When you could have easily done something to prevent it."

"And what would you call his refusal to go with his son?"

"I call it panic. Have you ever felt it? Because I have. And it's a dreadful feeling . . . that takes away your ability to reason, to think . . . until it passes. And when it did, and he came to you, you basically told him you couldn't help him . . . why? Because you thought he deserved to lose his son. Because you refused to admit that he was a cursed man . . . not a monster. Because you don't understand that human beings make mistakes. We're not infallible. We fail . . . a lot. And then we go on. All the time. Rumple spent his _life_ trying to atone for one mistake . . . a coward would have given the hell up after a year or two. But he never did. His methods were flawed, but not his heart. You, however, see only the flaws, and so long as you do, you'll never see the true man. But I do. I always have. And there is no other man I would choose to be my life's partner . . . and no other man I would choose to be the father of my children!"

Blue remained speechless after Belle's tirade.

Belle stood up, her hand still wound about Rumple's. "Furthermore, if our children are born with fairy powers, I'd trust myself and my husband to raise them properly before I will you, with your judgmental ideals. Rumple, let's go home."

"With pleasure, Belle. Good day, madam," Rumple said, and then he rose and helped Belle from the office.

He would return later to pick up Alina, after he made sure Belle was comfortable and no longer upset. And while his heart thrilled at how his wife had his back, at the same time the old insecurity welled within him, and he wondered sadly how many times he would be made to pay for that one fateful decision? Would he always be haunted by the mistakes of the past?

He opened the door for his wife then asked solicitously, "You okay, Belle?"

"I'm fine, Rumple. Just angry," Belle replied.

Gold got in the driver's side and started the car. Then he glanced again at his wife. "You . . . went after her like a tigress."

"She's lucky you didn't have your cane. Otherwise I might have been tempted to use it."

"Really, dearie? I wouldn't have wanted you to hurt yourself beating her up, no matter how angry she made you. My brave beautiful wife. I love you, Belle. And I love my children. _All_ my children."

"I know. I love you too, Rumple. And I always will. Now let's go home. All of a sudden my stomach's sour. I think I need some tea to settle it. And maybe listening to you read to me while you massage my temples."

"Okay, dearie. You just relax," he soothed, and began to drive back home. Yet a part of him still wondered . . . what would his life have been like had he taken Bae up on his offer?

**A/N: This could be the last time I update this before Christmas, so I'll wish all my readers and reviewers out there a very happy holiday and thank you for all your support! I've always wondered why no one really credits Rumple on the show for saving the children from the Ogre Wars, they only mention it once and it's like forgotten and yet they tend to focus only on his mistake with Bae and all his other mistakes. So this is my attempt to rectify that. **

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Hot Crab Dip**

1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, free of shells

1 cup grated monteray jack cheese

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup green onions, minced, optional

5 to 6 roasted garlic cloves or 2 cloves minced

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine all of the ingredients in a casserole and gently stir until thoroughly mixed. Bake for 40 minutes. Serve hot with crackers or toast points.


	14. Holding On and Letting Go

**14**

**Holding On and Letting Go**

Rumple tried his hardest to not let what the Blue Fairy said get to him. Belle's staunch defense of him buoyed his spirits for a time that day, but after she had fallen asleep on the sofa in the den, surrounded by decorations and her climbing flowers, with a homemade blue afghan over her, Rumple had time to brood before picking up Alina at the convent. He sat in his recliner, absently twirling a ball of yarn in his hands, faint sparkles of magic transforming the soft lavender mohair into spun gold. Then he let it rest in his lap and just stared at the embers of the fire he'd conjured in the fireplace.

Nala came and perched on his shoulder, gently rubbing her silken black head against his cheek while purring happily. Normally the affectionate kitten would have cheered him up, but not today. Today he brooded and recalled the fateful day when he'd let his panic get the better of him for the briefest instant, and Bae had slipped from his fingers literally. He had not intentionally relaxed his grip, instead the suction of the portal had dragged Bae down and pulled the boy away from him, since by its very nature it was designed to carry someone away with it. Yet he had let his son go in another sense, in his kneejerk response to the fact that going with Bae to another world, this world, whom the Blue Fairy had labeled a land without magic, would rob him of his magic—the one thing which had prevented him from being more than just a crippled cowardly spinner.

For so long, since Bae's birth, and before Milah had run off with Hook, he had lived with the stigma of coward, that because he refused to throw away his life as the Duke's conscript, and had his leg crushed beneath him by that knight's horse when he refused to get in line for muster—even though it would have been suicide to go and fight ogres poorly trained and equipped as he'd been—people had labeled him thus, the most vocal being his own wife. And gradually their sneers and comments had eroded his self-worth until he'd seen what others had made of him, and not the truth, and had let himself become what they thought he was.

Until it tainted everything he'd done, save for the act of desperation he'd had when taking on the dagger curse, allowing himself to be manipulated by Zoso and terror that Bae would be stolen from him like all the other children. People thought, wrongly, that he'd sought power to free himself of his cowardice when he became the new Dark One. But it had nothing to do with himself and everything to do with saving his son and the children who were now victims, as he had been once, of the duke's callous cruelty in trying to win against vicious monsters. Win at any and all costs.

And the worst of it had been that when Rumple went to negotiate with the ogre leaders to end the conflict, he discovered two very important things which had appalled him. One had been that it was humans, not ogres, who had begun the bloodshed, by a knight errant questing to make a name for himself and win the hand of a fair lady who'd gone into the ogres' territory and killed one on spite, leaving his calling card—a lance—embedded in the luckless ogre after he'd slain it. Outraged, the ogre elders had declared war upon the humans, and thus the conflict had begun.

Negotiation would have been possible then . . . but the humans regarded the ogres as monsters, not a differing race of beings, and so nothing was ever tried. It had been ironic that Rumple's suggestion, born of his peace-loving ways, of making a treaty, had actually been the right thing to do. And yet no one had ever considered it, preferring to violence instead.

And that had been the second thing. That the ogres were not mindless brutes, but thinking beings, with their own rules and society that humans knew nothing of. That if approached by someone who could speak their language properly, as he could because of his magic, a treaty was not only possible, but desired. Rumple had managed, after several days, to set out terms for both sides and thus secure the cessation of hostilities as well as a promise to keep to the borders of their land forever. It was then that he'd scared the duke's men into obedience and brought the children home for good.

The Negotiator had won the war that had caused thousands of deaths in a few meetings.

Yet even that had been overshadowed by the curse he bore, turning what should have been a victory, celebrated and immortalized in story and song, into a mere footnote.

Again and again his thoughts returned to the day Bae had used the bean, the moment before his son had slipped away, and again he cursed himself for letting panic get the better of him, for allowing his old insecurity and low self-esteem to dictate his actions that day. For he had, as Belle had so astutely seen long ago, been duped into believing what people had said of him, and had become the coward everyone insisted he was by listening to them.

_You were not a fit parent to Baelfire._

Blue's words haunted him, since a part of him feared that she was right, for he had been consumed by his curse then . . . though he had struggled against it. It had been slowly eating at his resolve, and only Bae had kept him tied to his own humanity. He had known even then that Bae was his saving grace, the thing which prevented him from becoming a monster fully.

And yet he had let him go.

It had been the worst mistake he had ever made . . . except for driving Belle away.

It was also the mistake he had never forgiven himself for.

What would it have been like, he mused bitterly, had he gone with his son that day? His life and Bae's would have been different for sure. Bae might have never been a slave, never been lost in Wonderland, never grown up without him. It all would have changed for the better.

Wouldn't it?

He brooded upon that single thought for over an hour, until it was time to pick up Alina, and then he brooded upon it even more afterwards, becoming quiet and nearly obsessed with the idea that he could have changed both his and Bae's fate forever had he simply jumped into the portal with him.

Belle noticed, of course, as did Alina, and when both asked if he was okay, he simply nodded and said he was just tired from the long day and needed some sleep. But sleep proved as elusive as his own forgiveness, and he woke the next morning still with that sour taste of regret and the burning ache in his gut of what could have been . . . as well as harboring new self-doubt about himself as a decent parent to his children.

Belle knew him too well, and she had seen him before in this mood, and tried without success to snap him out of it. "Rumple," she said to him before bed that night, when they were curled up next to each other. "You shouldn't let what that . . . that blue jellyfish said to you get to you."

"I'm not, dearie," the denial sprang automatically to his lips.

"You are. I know you." Belle sighed. "Bae forgave you for what happened. Don't let what Blue said destroy what you have. What's done is done. Just let it go."

Rumple sighed, and wished that were possible.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

Two days passed and still Rumple distanced himself from his family, sometimes working late in his shop and other times working on his computer in his study till the wee hours of the morning. After waking for the second time in a row to find him there in the middle of the night, Belle became desperate enough to call Bae and speak with her stepson about what had gone on.

"Bae, I think you need to talk to him. I can't seem to get him out of this funk he's in. Maybe you can. Before he gives himself an ulcer or something," she lamented.

So Bae rescheduled a class the next morning and came by Gold's pawnshop with some breakfast sandwiches and coffee from Granny's. When he pushed open the shop door, making the bell jingle, he saw his father holding something in his hand and just staring off into space, as if he were remembering something.

"Papa?" Bae called softly, then saw that Gold held a familiar object in his hand.

It was a ball, the same ball Bae had as a child, red leather with a blue star in the center.

"Hey!" Bae walked up and put the bag with the food and the coffee on the counter.

At that, Gold blinked and came back from his reverie, setting the ball down. "Bae? What are you doing here?"

"Good morning," Bae greeted his father. "I wasn't busy today so thought I'd stop by with some breakfast. Did you eat yet?"

Gold shook his head. "No. I . . . forgot," he muttered, recalling that he'd not even realized it until now. But the aroma of croissants, bacon, and eggs was making him drool and his stomach growl. He reached into the bag and took out a sandwich. "Thanks."

Bae allowed him to eat without saying much, talking of other matters, like his students, the upcoming holiday, and Emma and Henry's growing excitement about the baby. "So . . . how are Belle and the twins doing?"

"They're fine, according to Dr. Jo," Rumple said, finishing his sandwich and handing Bae the sonogram picture, which Belle had given to him and he'd taken to putting in his suit pocket. "Take a look."

Bae took the photo. "Wow! That's so awesome, Papa. I can't wait until mine's able to get pictures like that."

"I know. It's incredible."

"Have you picked out names yet? Emma and I were trying out some last week."

"Yes, we've discussed it. As well as a few . . . other things that may occur," Rumple said pensively.

"About the fact that they might be affected by the dust," Bae said knowingly. Rumple had told him about that some weeks ago.

"It's hard to say just how they might be affected," his father admitted. "Even Blue couldn't say for sure."

Seeing his chance, Bae snatched it and replied, "Yeah, but she sure had a lot to say about some other things."

Gold gave him a sharp look. "How did you know that?"

"Because I know how she is," Bae said smoothly. He didn't want Rumple to know that Belle had called him, and think they were discussing him behind his back. "She always does."

"True enough," Gold sighed. Then he asked quietly, "Why didn't you ever tell me that she . . . told you to leave without me?"

Bae scowled at that. "I never said anything because it didn't matter what the hell she told me, Papa. I wasn't doing it. I told her from the beginning why I wanted her help. To get rid of the dagger curse. It was never to abandon you to it. Is that what she told you? That I wanted the bean so I could leave you? That's bullshit!" Bae said heatedly. "_She_ wanted me to leave you. And if that bitch tells you different she's lying through her teeth, Papa! Don't you listen to her. She's never understood what's been there between us. She sees the world through her own eyes, all black and white, no shades of gray and if you don't follow her ways and rules, you're evil and can go rot in hell. I never realized it before because I was a kid and I didn't know better then, but she suggested that the only way I could save you was to use the bean. Hell, Papa, she set me up . . . she set us both up! She didn't give a damn about you, once you were cursed that was it. She didn't really want me to save you . . . she wanted to save me . . . because she didn't think you were worth it. But she was wrong, Papa. Dead wrong! I always wanted to free you from your curse, never to leave you."

"And I never wanted to let you go," Rumple asserted. "I just . . . panicked."

"I know that. It doesn't matter. I told you that before," Bae said seriously. "I'm done with blaming you, with resentment, I've forgiven you a long time ago, otherwise I wouldn't be here now. Let the past go, Papa. And if that damn fairy thinks she can bring up the past and shove it in your face, she's going to deal with _me._ And I'll set her ass straight."

Rumple eyed his son, seeing the sudden resolution and anger in his jaw, and said wryly, "Maybe I ought to warn her to start running." Then he smirked. "Nah. Let the holier-than-thou jellyfish dig her own grave."

"Damn straight." Bae grinned. "Because nobody screws with my family."

That should have been the end of it, yet Rumple still felt guilt for his actions, despite Bae's words. The guilt ate at him, until he couldn't help but think that his life might have been better if he'd gone with Bae, or Bae had never used the bean and tried to find another way to free him from the curse.

Though he didn't really say so, Belle could see that he was still upset, and she wanted to strangle the Blue Fairy. But before she could suggest that maybe Rumple should speak with someone else about his problem, like David, perhaps, they received some unexpected visitors.

The doorbell rang and when Rumple opened it, he almost fell backwards in shock. "_Rhea?_ You . . . what are you doing here?"

"Now that's a fine greeting, old dragon!" Rhea cried, her green eyes twinkling. She reached out and hugged her elder brother tightly. "It's Christmas, and even over on the Pearl we celebrate it. So Jack and I decided to come over and celebrate this year with your family."

Rumple hugged her back, her honey blond hair tickling his nose. "It's good to see you again, Rhea. And you and your family are always welcome here." He stepped backwards to let his sister inside the house.

Rhea, also known as Vasilisa the Wise, stepped into the foyer. She was wearing her customary silver gray leathers, teal tunic with her wide leather belt with its silver dragon buckle, her dragonhide boots, and shifting velvet blue cloak with its wolverine fur hood.

Behind her was her husband, Jack Sparrow. He was dressed in his customary black buccaneer pants and white blouse, brown coat and red scarf about his head. Around his waist was his cutlass and magical bag of holding. Also attached to his belt was his small eating knife and his brass retractable spyglass. "Rumple! Good to see you, mate!" He caught the other man in a bear hug. "Sorry this is a little . . . sudden, but the winds were fair and Rhea gets impatient, so we decided to come now." He turned and gestured to the two behind him. "Rumplestilskin, say hello to your niece, Jessalyn."

A tall slender girl with curly sunstreaked brown hair and lively green eyes in a brown tunic and pants, with thigh high boots and a slender white willow wand tucked in her belt, said, "Hello. I'm Jess . . . Uncle Rumple." She gave him a smile, which reminded him of her mother, and a hug as well.

Rumple gently hugged her and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jess. Welcome to my home." He turned and called, "Belle! We've got visitors!"

Then he swung back around to greet Rhea's youngest child, her son. And got the shock of his life as he looked into . . . a younger version of himself at that age. His eyes widened as he stared at the sixteen-year-old and he stammered, "My . . . God . . . but you look . . ."

"Circe's staff!" his nephew exclaimed. "It's like looking into a mirror . . . sort of. I'm William, but you can call me Will."

Like Rumple he had soft straight brown hair, bright brown eyes, and a slender expressive face. He was slender and slight, about five feet eleven inches, and dressed in blue breeches, a heavy cotton shirt, black tooled vest and a belt that contained a pouch and a small knife. His boots were wyvern scale, a night black with iridescent shimmering scales that flickered with rainbows when the light struck them.

"Hello, Will. I'm your uncle . . . Rumple," he said, then gave the youth a cautious hug. Then he looked over at Rhea. "You knew, didn't you?"

"That he looks like you?" she asked smugly. "Of course I did. But I didn't say anything because I wanted it to be a surprise."

Jess whistled. "Wow, Will. He could be your dad."

"Oh my God!" Belle gasped as she came into the foyer and saw them together. "Rumple . . . are you sure you . . . that this isn't . . . you look . . . forgive me . . . I'm Belle Gold, Rumple's wife."

"Your aunt," Rhea said. Then she hugged Belle. "It's good to see you again, dearie."

"You too," Belle said.

"And I see you've been busy," the sorceress laughed knowingly, indicating Belle's stomach. "When will they be born?"

"Uh . . . January. How do you know they're twins?" Belle asked.

Rhea shrugged. "Saw it. Why?"

"I should have known," Belle chuckled. Then she turned and greeted Jack and the Sparrow children. "You can meet your cousin Alina when she comes home from school."

As they all followed Rumple into the den, she looked again at Will and murmured, "It's like seeing a glimpse of Rumple before I ever knew him. The resemblance . . . it's uncanny!"

Rhea smiled at her sister-in-law. "When he was small, we didn't know who he resembled . . . until I Saw a vision of Rumple before he was the Dark One. . . and then I knew."

Belle thought about how Bae was going to be shocked when he saw his cousin. And how wonderful it was that the Sparrows had come to share the holiday with them. It was going to be a most memorable Christmas, for all of the Golds. And perhaps Rhea could help her brother resolve these issues he'd been having if anyone could.

**A/N: So here's a chapter for you all! Merry Christmas!**


	15. It's A Wonderful Life

**15**

**It's A Wonderful Life**

The Sparrows were all sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and cocoa and eating cookies when Bae, Alina, and Henry showed up. When Bae walked into the kitchen and saw who was there, he did a double take. Then he went and said hello to his aunt and uncle properly, and introduced himself to his cousins, his eyes growing wider and wider as he stared at Will and then back at his father.

"Jesus H. Christ, Papa!" he finally got out. "Do I have a little brother you never told me about, because he's like . . . mini me Rumple!"

"I kept him locked in the basement," Rumple joked, his eyes twinkling.

"But he lets me out for good behavior," Will added, wearing a nearly identical smirk on his face.

"He's a throwback to my grandfather," Rumple said. "Like me. Or so said my mother."

"Which one?" Rhea asked curiously.

"Maternal," Rumple replied automatically. "Our father was his family's black sheep, and he never spoke of them or even acknowledged who they were. Knowing him, he probably disgraced them past bearing or something. He was a charming scoundrel though . . . until things didn't go his way." Rumple grimaced slightly. "But let's not talk about the old bastard now. He's long dead and gone."

Alina eyed her cousin curiously. "Can you do magic like Papa, Will?"

"Nope. I have his face, but not his power," he shook his head. "Jess can, though."

Alina turned eagerly to Jess and asked, "What's your Talent?"

"I'm a weather witch, among other things," Jess said candidly. "I can also do a bit of past and present Viewing."

"That's cool! Can you summon lightning?" Henry wanted to know.

"When I have to, yes," his cousin answered. "But only when necessary. I can whistle up a wind when the Pearl is becalmed and make one die down if there's a storm that's shredding our sails. Wind and water magic. And a bit of the Sight. But nothing like Mom's Gift, thank the gods." Jess made a face. "Having a full Seer's Gift . . . is awful. Way too much pressure and responsibility."

"It is?"

"Sure. Because you have to decide when to tell about a Vision and when to hold your tongue. And interpreting Visions is damn hard . . . and sometimes no matter what you tell someone, or don't tell them, they're never satisfied . . . and sometimes they try and take it out on you, like it's your fault that you Saw what you did . . . Dad's thrown more than a few of Mom's clients over the side when they tried to get rough with her."

"With Aunt Rhea?" Alina repeated in astonishment. "But . . . she's an enchantress."

"I know, but when she's in Seer mode, she agrees to not use her magic to harm a client, so . . . Dad watches out for her then," Jess explained. "Otherwise, she can kick some serious ass."

"I'll bet. Like Papa," Alina replied.

"Yeah, you don't mess with the magic users in our family," Will said, eating another chocolate chip. "Or my dad. He might not be a wicked pirate like the Joneses, but he can still take you down and make you wish you'd fed the fishes."

"Mine too," Henry said proudly. "He's a martial arts master. Like a ninja, with swords and shuriken and stuff."

"I'm not too bad with a sword," Will said modestly. His hands played with some twine in his pocket, tying it into a sailor's hitch knot. "But I much prefer sailing a ship to fighting."

"Yeah, he's a great navigator. Can do all those complicated math problems in his head," his sister pointed out. "But then he forgets to polish his boots."

"Aww, be quiet, Miss Know-It-All," her brother half-growled.

"Alina's a math whiz too," Henry said. "But not me. I like reading better."

"Me too. When I'm not scanning weather patterns, I'm up in the crow's nest with a book," Jess told him.

"What are you doing, Will?" Alina wanted to know, peering at her cousin's hands, which were tying another knot in the length of twine.

"Tying knots. This one's a double clove hitch," he said, indicating the first one. "On a ship, knots save sailors lives. So we can all tie some. I learned how to tie when I was five, 'cause it kept me busy and out of trouble. There are no idle hands aboard a ship, according to my dad. Or only when you're sleeping," he amended. His hands, long and slender, rapidly tied several knots in his rope, gracefully twirling and wrapping with the ease of long practice.

"That's really awesome," Henry said.

"Want me to show you how it's done?"

"Sure!" Henry watched avidly as Will demonstrated.

"Okay. Now you try, Henry." Will handed him the rope, guiding his hands gently when needed.

Soon Henry had a rather small lopsided knot alongside Will's.

"Good! See, you practice that every day and you'll be making knots like a seadog," Will praised, his brown eyes twinkling just like Rumple's.

Henry found that his older cousin reminded him a great deal of his grandfather, though his voice wasn't quite as deep and it had a different pitch to it, still Will had Rumple's patience and calm manner.

As Will showed Henry how to tie another knot, Jess also demonstrated one to Alina, saying, "This one's my favorite. It's called Sparrow's Spar. My dad invented it to tie up troublemaking pirates." She gestured and held a length of ship's rope in her hands, then tied a knot in a twinkling.

"Neat! Show me again," Alina urged.

"Oops! Sorry, I go too fast sometimes," Jess said ruefully, then showed her again.

While the children were receiving nautical lessons, Jack and Bae were discussing swordfighting techniques as well as other methods of subduing an enemy. "You've got to come down to Fire Mountain one day and we can spar," Bae invited his uncle. "I haven't had a good sparring partner since David, and he's too busy being the mayor here to give me a really good workout."

"Aye, politics is a killer," Jack chuckled. "Be glad to, Bae. Just let me know a time, and we can have ourselves a good fight or two, lad."

"A good _fight_?" Rumple frowned, he had come back into the kitchen from getting another tray of cookies from the buffet in the dining room and only caught the tail end of the two men's conversation. "You hurt my son, Sparrow, and I'll—"

"Papa, good God! Stop overreacting," Bae cried, flushing slightly. "We were talking about a spar, not a real fight. Christ, you'd think I was nine the way you act, not twenty-nine!"

Gold looked embarrassed now, and said, "Sorry, Jack, sometimes I just—"

"It's all right, mate," Jack waved off his apology, amused. "Once a father, always a father. I do it too, with both my kids. Then Jess gets all huffy and points out that she can take care of anybody that steps out of line with a snap of her finger and tells me she's not five anymore and crying over a scraped knee, by Circe's hair. And Will just looks at me like I've gone round the bend and taps his throwing knives. It's instinctive, Rhea says, and you never quite lose it, no matter how old they are."

"She's right, you don't," Rumple admitted. Although, he thought to himself, part of the reason he reacted the way he did was because he hadn't had the chance to protect Bae the way he should have all those years ago. The memory made his head start throbbing and the bitter taste of failure creep into his mouth, so instead of joining the two men, he sat quietly beside them, just listening, and wishing he had done things differently.

"Sorry, Papa," Bae said quickly, not wanting to make his father feel bad. "I ought to know better, seeing as I'm the same way with Emma and Henry. All of us Golds are like rabid wolves when it comes to protecting our families."

_Was that ever true, _Rumple reflected. _And that comes from being separated and torn apart for so long._

"Us Sparrows are guilty of that as well, lad," Jack admitted. "So you're in good company. Now, about that underhand thrust you were telling me about . . ."

At the opposite end of the kitchen table, Belle was discussing her pregnancy with a sympathetic Rhea, though she kept darting concerned glances at her husband. "So I . . . I'm sorry, what was I saying?" Belle apologized, having just lost her train of thought.

"What's wrong with him, Belle?" Rhea asked, with that uncanny intuition she had.

Belle was startled. "How do you know there's something wrong?"

"I didn't use magic, if that's what you're wondering," the enchantress murmured. "I don't need it to see that something's not . . . right with him. There's a . . . connection between us, Belle . . . it's always been there, even when he was the Dark One and I was a desperate terrified apprentice seeking sanctuary from Baba Yaga. I knew then, like I do now, that despite his dark reputation, he'd never harm me . . .it's in our blood, this knowing . . . and that's how I know something's the matter now. He's not himself, Belle. Oh, he acts very well, but . . . I can see his mind's not focused on the here and now, it's recalling something from long ago . . . and he's upset and brooding. Why? What's happened?"

Belle took a deep breath. "I don't know if he'd want you to know this, but . . . you're family and I'm done with secrets, so I'm going to tell you."

"Please do. And if he bellows at you later for it, send him to me, and I'll take care of him," Rhea said with an impish grin.

Belle snickered. "Only you would say that, Rhea. Everyone else almost wets themselves when the infamous Dark One growls, but not you."

"That's because to me he's not the Dark One, just my pain-in-the-ass older brother."

"And he doesn't frighten you."

"Never has. Like I said before, I know him, and he'd die a thousand deaths before he hurt one of his own . . . or anyone he considers family. Besides, I've slain plenty of dragons before this," Rhea grinned. "And little sisters have immunity when it comes to dealing with their big brothers. If they're good ones, that is. And Rumple is. So, what's wrong?"

Belle told her all about the vendetta involving Donato Fabrizio and his goons, the plane ride and the fairy dust, the Blue Fairy, and how her unborn twins had been affected by it. She then told her about the most recent conversation they'd had with the old matriarch.

Rhea's green eyes turned stormy as she listened to Belle's tale, her expressive face suddenly going hard like glacial ice. "Wretched judgmental pixie bitch!" she spat, hissing like a kettle about to boil over. "She understands nothing of human nature . . . or the fact that in order to learn how to be truly good, you must also be tempted and fail sometimes. Nothing is ever perfect, not in nature, and not in us. We are as the gods in their wisdom made us, and that is the way of it. I ought to go over there and give that stiff-necked fae a piece of my mind . . . and my boot up her tight ass!"

Belle bit her lip, her shoulders shaking with mirth. The picture _that_ statement conjured was priceless! And one that she'd pay a zillion dollars to see. _God help you if you mess with a Gold . . . you'll be eaten alive or stomped right into the dirt, whichever comes first . . . and that's if we're in a good mood._ "Can I help?" she found herself asking wickedly.

Rhea shared a little girl's impish smirk with her sister-in-law. "Sure you can, girl. You can hold the bitch down while I beat her, okay? But we can save that for later. Right now what's most important is my brother. I think I need to have a wee talk with him after dinner tonight."

Belle arched an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling you might be doing more than talking, Rhea?"

"Because you've got good intuition, dearie. And perhaps words won't be enough, but I'll start there and we'll see. Sometimes the old dragon can be stubborn as ten hells."

"Tell me about it!"

"But we love him, so we can put up with it," Rhea commiserated. Then she took another sip of her tea and said, "Now, I've Seen that you're going to be a grandma again, dearie. How's that working out?"

Belle smiled, and talked about Emma's baby, and how they were all hoping it was a girl this time. "I would love to see Bae all mushy over a baby girl. Rumple too . . . he's like that with Regina, though he tries to be all tough, but he's marshmallow fluff half the time with her . . . unless she really pushes his buttons, and she can, believe me, but she's a lovable little imp, even when you want to strangle her."

"And I'm sure Henry wants a little sister to protect," Rhea chuckled, looking at the sonogram picture Belle handed her of the twins.

As if that were a signal, the doorbell rang and before anyone could answer it, it opened and Regina raced into the foyer, her lavender hat flying off her dark hair and her purple woolen scarf dragging on the floor, screaming, "Unca Rumple, Auntie Belle, I's here!"

"Speak of the devil," Belle grinned, trying to get to her feet to greet her niece. "Damn, I think I need a fork lift!"

"Stay there, dearie," Rumple ordered. "She's not the queen anymore, you don't need to stand up to greet her." Then he went out into the foyer and saw a rather harried Granny standing in the doorway. "Hey, little scamp, now what have you been up to?"

"Unca Rumple!" Regina crowed, and ran to him, her scarf still trailing behind her.

"She's all yours, Rumple," Granny said, shaking her head ruefully. "And I hope you've got insurance."

"That bad, huh?" he sighed, and put a hand on Regina's head. "What did she do, almost burn down the diner?"

"Not quite, but it was heading in that direction. Kid's like the whirlwind of destruction . . . and I'm not as young as I used to be, Gold. And Ruby was off today, so I had to mind her and watch my new staff all at the same time. I need to tell David or Snow that I can only watch her when Ruby's there."

Gold shook his head. "I'm sorry she was a problem." He looked down at his niece and said, "Regina Nolan, do I need to give you time out or a spanking for misbehaving with Granny?"

Regina immediately released his leg and reached back to cover her behind. "No! I be good, Unca Rumple! I sorry I played cookin' with Granny's stove."

Granny took pity on the little minx and said quickly, "No need to punish her, Gold, since I've already done that. She won't be doing it again, right, Regina?"

"Uh huh. I sorry, Granny," the child said, and then ran back and hugged the old woman.

Granny sighed. "Never mind, Rumple. She's a little imp, but then so was Ruby at that age, so . . . be seeing you." She kissed Regina goodbye, then went out the door.

"Bye, Granny!" Regina waved. Then she skipped back to Rumple and said, her lower lip trembling in a pathetic pout, "Am I in trouble?"

"No, for you've already been that, dearie," Rumple sighed, finding it impossible to be cross with the scamp when she looked like that. "Next time behave so you don't make poor Granny run for the hills, you hear?"

"'Kay," she agreed, then held up her arms.

Rumple picked her up, then carried her into the kitchen, saying, "Regina, there's some people I'd like you to meet. This is your Auntie Rhea and Uncle Jack, come to visit for Christmas, and also your new cousins, Jess and Will . . ."

Regina suddenly decided to play shy, and ducked her face into Rumple's shoulder. But only until she noticed Will, and then she cried, "Lookit, Unca Rumple! He's you!"

"Not really, imp. He just looks a lot like me," Rumple chuckled, setting her down. "Now go play . . . and remember, Noel's watching, so you'd better be good!" Then he gave her a light swat on the bottom to get her moving, watching wistfully as Regina ran over to Will and told him bossily, "You's in my chair, but that's okay, I share with you. Mommy says ladies share." Then she promptly climbed in his lap.

Henry giggled at Will's semi-shocked expression.

"Is she always like that?" he asked Henry.

"Yup. If she likes you, that is."

"And you're lucky, Will. You look like Papa, so maybe she'll mind you better than she does me or Henry," Alina said, then summoned the tray of gingerbread cookies over and took one off the tray as it hovered above the table.

"Now why do I get the feeling that's a blessing in disguise?" Will murmured, before showing Regina how to tie some knots, soon losing his initial awkwardness as he found he actually enjoyed the little girl's company, having never had a younger sibling who looked up to him before.

"Looks like Will's made a new friend," Jack said, observing the two. "Thank goodness she's too young to go all starry eyed over him though!"

"Oh, she's got stars in her eyes, Jack," Rumple said. "And I guarantee that by the time you go home, she'll have him wrapped around her finger."

"Just like you, Papa," Bae teased.

"Just wait, Bae. If you have a girl, I'm betting she'll be attached at the hip to you . . . and I'm going to laugh till I choke," Rumple predicted, waving a teasing finger at his smirking son.

Jack snickered at the byplay, thinking that the two reminded him of himself and Will, who though quiet and shy around strangers, was not so around his family and friends.

Indeed Will seemed to have lost his natural quietness and was now bouncing Regina on one knee while playing a silly little clapping and rhyming game that he used to play with Jess at that age, about different kinds of fish and shells, which was a fun learning tool for the children of those who made their living on the sea.

He caught Rhea looking over at him and winked at her, then saluted her with his glass of white wine. At first, before meeting the Golds, Jack had feared he'd be like a fish out of water among them, but now he was as comfortable with them as he was with his old friend Will Turner and his crew on the Pearl. And the food . . . well, the food here was incredible, and he could foresee a great holiday season.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

Emma, Snow, and David joined them for dinner that night, and the merriment and laughter increased as the family played games like Taboo and Apples to Apples. But though Rumple participated along with the rest of them, Rhea's discerning eye could tell her brother's heart was not with his family, but wandering down paths best left unexplored.

Once everything had been put away and sleeping arrangements made for her children, Jack, and herself, Rhea lingered downstairs, sipping one last cup of tea beside the fire and gazing dreamily into the flames, counting the minutes until her brother would be alone in his study and she could speak with him.

She used her present Sight for that, slipping easily into a semi-trance state that allowed her to view her sibling as he slipped from his bed, leaving Belle asleep, and padded down the hall to his study, then sat down at his desk and began to go through some statements. Suddenly he muttered a swear word and tossed the statement down on his desk, then put his head in his hands and stared moodily into the swirled glass paperweight upon his desk that Alina had made him one year in art class.

Rhea, sensing the time was now, teleported herself from the den to the doorway of the study, where she tapped politely at the door before entering.

Her brother looked up and saw her. "Rhea? Is something wrong? Do you need something?"

She shook her head. "Just to talk, Rumple. I can't sleep."

"You too, huh? Well, neither can I," he admitted.

She came to sit down in the chair opposite him, leaning her elbows on the desk, her green eyes intent with purpose. "I know. What's the matter, old dragon?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "What makes you think something's the matter, Mistress Scribble?" he queried, using his old nickname for her when she was his apprentice.

Rhea gave him a come-on-I'm-not-stupid look. "You might fool everyone else with your stoic act, Rumple, but not me. There's something eating you."

"Who told you that? Bae? Belle?" he asked, immediately becoming defensive.

"When have I ever needed anyone to tell me what I can see perfectly well for myself?" she demanded, allowing her mystique as a Seer to work in her favor this time.

"You're being nosy," he chided.

"Yes . . . and concerned that somebody's gone and hurt my brother and I need to kick whoever it is's ass," she said candidly.

That brought a reluctant smile to his face. "Really, dearie? It's supposed to be the other way around."

"Who says? The Big Brother Manual? Well, I just threw it out the window. If you can come and kick somebody's ass for hurting me, than turnabout's fair play, Rumple. Now tell me what's bothering you . . . _please_. Or shall I remote view it instead?"

"Now wait just a damn minute! I didn't ask . . ."

"You don't have to. Rumple . . . I know you're upset about something, and I don't mean to pry, but I can feel it, like a icy rock here—" she tapped her breastbone. "—and I think I can help you . . . if you'll let me. You know I'd never betray you, right?"

"I know, little sister. It's just hard . . . then again, you know everything anyhow, so . . . might as well tell you the rest of it." He sighed, then spoke about the pixie dust, the fairies, his unborn children, and the thing which haunted him still—his unintentional abandonment of Baelfire.

"So, you see, the Blue Fairy was right . . . in her own twisted way," Rumple declared softly, his voice laced with bitterness and regret. "I _was_ a bad father, and it was my panic that led me to lose my son. And I cannot help but think that . . . our lives would be so much different if he'd stayed . . . or I'd gone with him. Bae wouldn't have been alone . . . maybe never ended up as a slave to Cora Miller . . . and I'd have had my son to help me break the dagger curse. I can't stop thinking about it. About what might have been."

"And you truly believe that if you'd gone with Bae or he'd stayed with you, things would have been . . . better?" Rhea probed.

"Yes, of course! He wouldn't have grown up with strangers, and I wouldn't have created the Dark Curse or . . . or . . . it would have been so much different!"

"Rumple . . .do you remember after I broke the dagg_e_r curse that I told you that sometimes bad things happen to good people for a reason, that's it's not just random luck? That despite how horrible my life was with Baba Yaga, that my suffering in her frozen hell had a purpose I didn't see until I was called on to break the curse of the Dark One? That all her dark teachings and compulsions made me able to break the nastiest curses? Do you remember?"

"Yes, but . . ."

Rhea held up a hand. "I can see that mere words aren't going to convince you, Rumplestiltskin. You're as thickheaded as a blackface sheep, brother of mine."

"I am not!"

"I beg to differ, dearie."

"You're a damn pain in my ass."

"Likewise, old dragon. Now shut up and listen to me, for once. If you're so convinced that things would have been better for you if you'd never left Bae or he hadn't left you, then you won't object to taking a little stroll with me."

"Now? Rhea, it's almost midnight."

"Good. The witching hour approaches," she looked unconcerned. "And this journey, big brother, isn't one you have to leave your comfy chair for and complain about your old bones aching."

"My _what_? Old bones? I'm nowhere near decrepit yet, dearie, and don't you forget it!" he sputtered, glaring at her.

"Rumple, don't get your boxers in a twist, dearie," she returned, her green eyes dancing. Then she spread her hands and a glowing ball of purplish green light appeared between them. "Now, like I said, this journey isn't one you need to travel for . . . it's all happening through my Seeing globe. Most globes like this show possible futures . . . or present ones. This one, however, will show us the past . . . the past as it would be if Bae never had the bean . . . and how it would have changed everything."

"How can you show me something that never happened?"

"Simple. Inside the globe . . . past becomes future and all possibilities can be Seen. It's a Seer trick, dearie. Just trust me, old dragon. You've dreamwalked before, right?"

"Yes."

'Well, this is similar. Look into the globe, Rumple. I want you to call up the memory of the day Bae came home with the bean . . . and then take my hand and follow me . . ."

Rhea's voice was very soothing, curling about him like a thick comfy blanket. He took deep breath, centering himself, then let his spirit drift away out of his body.

As he hovered over the globe, he felt a tug and then Rhea was standing next to him, her slender hand closing on his. She pulled him gently towards the swirling vortex that was the Seeing globe, and when he followed she breathed a sigh of relief, then they both jumped into the globe . . .

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_Bae raced all the way home to the large house he now shared with his papa, a house big enough to fit six people, though it was only him and his papa living in it. He was excited for the first time in a long time. He had hope that the terrible curse his father had lived with for nine months could be broken . . . and the solution was so simple he wanted to dance and sing for joy . . ._

_"Papa! Papa, guess what?"_

_Rumple looked up from where he was spinning some straw into gold. "Bae! Is something wrong?"_

_"Nothing, Papa. But see what I have? It's a magic bean! Want to know what it does? It can break your curse!" Bae was grinning from ear to ear now, the bean clutched in his grubby fist._

_"What? Don't be ridiculous, boy. Beans don't break curses."_

_"Yes, they do, Papa. When they can take you to a different world—a world without magic, and therefore without curses."_

_"A world without magic? Who would want to go there?"_

_"I do, Papa. So you can be free of it, once and for all."_

_"Who told you that, son?"_

_"Uh . . . the Blue Fairy did."_

_"The Blue Fairy! Son, she detests me. She would never help me, she disdains anyone who has fallen under enchantments."_

_"But Papa, she promised! Look, here's the bean." Bae held out the bean._

_Rumple took it and examined it. "This is a fool's hope, Bae. It'll never work. So best forget about it, lad." Then he put the bean in his pocket._

_Bae's face fell. "But Papa . . . don't you want your curse to be broken? For everything to go back the way it was before?"_

_"Yes, but leaving this world and going to a new one isn't how it's done, dearie," Rumple told him._

_"Then what other way is there?"_

_"I don't know."_

_And so Bae stayed with Rumple, who as the Dark One, managed to stave off the true ramifications of the curse . . . but never found a way to break it . . . and eventually Bae grew up and grew tired of trying to make the Dark One into something he wasn't . .. and left Rumple alone in his Dark Castle . . . and went out into the world . . . and was killed by ogres . . . resulting in Rumple going utterly mad and becoming a prisoner of his curse forever . . . until another wizard came along and broke into the castle and found the dagger . . . then killed him with it . . . becoming the new Dark One . . ._

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

"And that is one way the future might have unfolded," Rhea said. "And you would never have known your true love, or your family, or anything save misery and sorrow until the day you were killed by another who wished for power."

Rumple rubbed his eyes. "And that . . . that's the only thing that could have happened?"

"No. But see . . . here's another possibility . . ."

The globe swirled again, and again Rhea took Rumple's hand in astral form and sprang into the globe once more . . .

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_The portal gaped like a putrid pit at Bae's feet as he dangled over the edge, seizing Rumple's hand in his own._

_"Papa! Don't break our deal!"_

_"Bae, I can't!" Rumple cried, panic etching his features._

_"Come on, Papa! Just close your eyes and jump! I need you!" Bae screamed, as the portal tugged insidiously at him._

_"I . . . I . . ." Rumple stammered, then gathering all his courage, he closed his eyes, clutching his son's hand, and jumped into the swirling green vortex . . . and was transported to another land . . . a land where magic was dormant yet . . . and his curse broken . . . yet there was a price to be paid. _

_Rumple and Bae stayed together, but Rumple was forever crippled and used his skillful talents as a spinner to provide for himself and his boy, but despite the money they eventually had, was lonely and felt lacking . . . as if there was something more he should have had . . .something his privileged life was missing . . . only he didn't know what . . . and eventually Bae married and left home, returning to the gray mansion on the coast of windy Inverness for holidays and summers, bringing his wife and children, who listened to their grandfather's fantastic stories of a far away fairy land where magic was real and princes and queens and heroes lived. _

_They were the only bright spots in his existence. _

_Eventually he grew old and forgetful, and Bae hired a nurse to care for him, until he breathed his last, dying still searching for that unnamed thing . . . a thing called true love . . . that had passed him by . . ._

_And soon the only things left to mark his life were a spinning wheel and his fabulous stories, which his grandchildren told and retold to their children . . ._

Abruptly, Rumple and Rhea found themselves back in their true realm, and they saw a tall golden castle, which held a familiar princess in a golden gown.

"Belle!" Rumple whispered, and put out a hand to touch her, but it passed right through her . . . as if he were a ghost! "Belle!"

"You cannot touch her, Rumple. She cannot hear or see you either," Rhea said gently. "We are here to observe only. Watch. This is what happened to her after you chose to go through the portal."

_"It's almost time, my lady," said her maid happily, pinning up the last dark auburn curl to the back of her head. "Your wedding day! Aren't you delighted to have married such a handsome knight as Sir Gaston?"_

_"I . . . am, Janine. He . . . is what my father always wanted for me," Belle said, sounding as if she would rather be drawn and quartered. "And I . . . shall try to be happy."_

_Then she went from the room, her dress trailing behind her, and Rumple felt his heart crack in two as he watched Belle and Gaston wed in the small chapel, and saw how Belle seemed so unlike the lively beloved woman he had known, even as his servant in the Dark Castle._

_Time passed, and he saw that though Belle had every material thing she desired, Gaston was cold to her, and shared nothing with her, eventually even leaving her bed to find the company of other women. She was a trophy wife, meant to be admired when he wished to impress some noble, but otherwise was required to do nothing save look pretty and wear fancy dresses._

_Her creativity and fine mind were stifled, as Gaston refused to allow her to buy books, to read, and burned those he found and locked her away in a tower until she nearly starved. He only released her when he learned her father was coming for a visit, and she discovered she carried his child._

_But even that small joy was taken from her, as Maurice was attacked and killed on the road by an advance guard of ogres . . . who had come in retribution to Avonlea since Gaston and his friends had gone into their territory and killed one of their shaman's, violating the treaty, and leaving themselve_s _open to attack . . ._

_And attack they did . . . slaughtering hundreds of innocent people . . . blood ran in the streets, and the screams of the dying penetrated the air, echoing hauntingly upon the wind . . ._

_The ogers marched upon Gaston's estate . . . and slew all they found there. Belle climbed the stairs to her former prison, her lips white yet clenched in determination. She knew well what awaited her if she did not do this . . . and she wanted to die bravely, not screaming in agony as an ogre thrust a spear through her vitals._

_She placed a hand over her stomach and whispered, "I'm so sorry, little one. I wanted so much to be a mother . . . and to find at last someone to love me . . . but all my choices were made for me . . . and this is the last one left . . ."_

_Then she jumped . . . _

Rumple screamed in horror as she fell, like a limp ragdoll through the air, to lie still upon the courtyard stones . . . a broken remnant of the woman he loved . . . who had never had a chance to blossom . . .

"_No!"_ he howled in agony.

"That was her fate, brother. Because you were not there to save her from her loveless marriage and stop the ogres from overrunning her kingdom," Rhea said quietly, gripping his shoulder as tears streamed down his face. "And my fate was no better than hers . . ."

Through his tears Rumple saw . . .

. . ._ a fifteen-year-old girl running through the snowy woods that bordered the Dark Castle, which had been abandoned. She sought shelter within its empty walls, but shelter was not enough to save her . . . and she died that night of the terrible cold and wracking fever and chills . . . and so too died the hope of the Northern Lands, who remained prisoner to Baba Yaga . . . and in the southern lands, a pirate named Jack Sparrow also lived a lonely life without his beloved sorceress, the children of their union never born . . ._

_ . . . and in the Enchanted Forest, Regina married Leopold and then turned upon Snow, strangling the child with a pearl necklace . . . and so she was never able to save her people from the Evil Queen. . . _

_Thus the world was altered forever, from that single fateful choice . . ._

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

Then Rumple was back in his own body, tears still drying upon his cheeks, shivering uncontrollably as he wrapped his arms about himself, the otherworldly chill of the astral realm stabbing him through his Dolce and Gabbana suit like shards of ice. "Cold . . . cold as death . . . Belle . . . you . . . . all dead . . ."

"Because you were not there to save us," Rhea said, her own teeth chattering slightly. "Now, brother, is that truly such a better choice?"

Mute, Rumple shook his head once, images of Belle falling through the air and Rhea gasping her last breath upon the cold cobbles still parading before his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I know this was difficult to see, but remember, the globe shows only what might have been had you chosen differently," Rhea said, rising and coming around the desk to hug Rumple. "One choice can save or destroy you, Rumple . . . and those you love. And though your becoming the Dark One was a terrible price to pay, remember that in the end you saved Belle and me . . . and Bae lived to meet Emma and have Henry, and you had Alina and now your twins . . . all that came about because you endured your curse and learned to love despite everything . . . and now you have the family you longed for. The family you fought for. Don't let that bitch ruin what you have, Rumple. All things happen for a reason, even if we don't see why. And sometimes the greatest things can come out of the greatest mistakes . . . if you are willing to learn from them and go on. Yes, you have done terrible things, but you also did some wonderful ones as well. We need you, Rumple, just the way you are, and we forgive you your past and love you despite everything. Now don't you think it's time to forgive yourself?"

Rumple hugged his sister and wept quietly on her shoulder for a few moments, as a new realization swept through him.

His family _needed_ him. Needed him and loved him, despite all he had been and done.

_I am where I need to be. Where I am meant to be._ He breathed in the soft scent of winter berries upon Rhea's clothes and hair. All things happen for a reason. For the first time he looked upon the past and saw it for what it was . . . a crossroads . . . a choice born of fear . . . yet despite the repercussions, a necessary mistake . . . and in seeing it through a new perspective at last stopped the cycle of regret and guilt . . . and forgave himself at last.

Fresh tears coursed down his face, and he felt Rhea's hand stroking his hair as she held him.

"Rumple, I'm so sorry . . ."

"Don't be," he coughed and pulled away from her so he could look her in the eye. "I needed to see that, hard as it was. I needed to see what might have been, so I could put it all in perspective and realize that . . . the life I have now is the one I was meant to have." He wiped his eyes and smiled at his sister. "I think you've earned your wings, Clarence."

"Excuse me?" she blinked at him.

"Don't tell me you've never seen _It's A Wonderful Life, _with Jimmy Stewart."

"I've heard of it. Never seen it though."

"Then we'll have to watch it together, among other things," Rumple laughed. "And it's a wonderful life, dearie." He hugged his sister again.

Rhea smirked. "Yes, it is, Rumple. And we have a lot of lost time to make up now that we're together as a family. So . . . let's do it right, old dragon, and make this a Christmas to remember."

"Oh, yes, let's," he agreed. Then he pulled his sister onto his lap and said, "Now I owe you some payback, baby sister, for putting me through that."

"What? Rumplestiltskin, you let me go!" she ordered.

"I think some Stiltskin Tickle Torture is in order," he threatened, then began to tickle her unmercifully.

"Rumple! Stop! You wretched beast!" she cried, squirming.

"A beast, am I? We'll see, won't we?" Rumple purred, laughing himself as he tickled her ribs, muffling her shrieks of mirth against his suit, his eyes gleaming with mischief. The Dark One was gone for good, true, but there was still a little wickedness in him, and just for a bit he let it come out to play, like all big brothers did with their little sisters, until his ears echoed with Rhea's bubbly laughter, because it really was a wonderful life, and now he could celebrate it fully.

**A/N: Hope you liked this chapter! Please review and also check out my new little Christmas story, The Magi's Gift, a Rumbelle one-shot, if you haven't already! Thanks everybody!**


	16. Snow Day

**16**

**Snow Day**

After Snow and David had dinner at Gold's house, they decided to take Regina to see Santa down at the Storybrooke firehouse. Happy, one of the seven dwarves, was playing the part this year, and Ruby was taking pictures of each child as they sat on Santa's lap.

Some of the children were a little shy and wouldn't talk to him, but others spoke right up and informed him what they expected to get on Christmas. In addition to the picture, Santa also gave out a small bag of Christmas candy, including Hershey's kisses, candy canes, and chocolate crisp bars.

Regina waited with Snow and Charming on line until it was her turn to see Santa. The firehouse had been decorated with fake snow (since it hadn't snowed yet) and Christmas lights, plus a lit-up sleigh with reindeer on the roof. Inside it was decorated with swags of red drapery and wreaths and pine boughs with red bows and glitter. The poles usually used to slide down by the firemen were decorated with velvet red and white ribbons to look like candy canes, and several volunteers stood next to Santa dressed like elves and handed out the treat bags to each child as they left.

A few of the toddlers began to whine and cry before they sat on Santa, and one small boy grew hysterical and refused to sit on his lap at all, instead running to hide behind a candy cane pole, much to his mother's dismay. She spent five minutes trying to get him to come out, to no avail.

Suddenly, Regina, who was about a year or so older than the two-year-old little boy, pulled free of David's hand and ran towards the child, sliding to a halt on the polished floor a moment later. "Hey!" she half-yelled at the sobbing toddler. "You is not 'post to cry when you see Santa. He's a nice man an' brings us presents on Cwistmas."

The little boy stopped crying then and stared at Regina. "He . . . he does? He . . . not scawy?"

Regina shook her head. "Santa ain't scary. He's jolly an' his belly shakes like a bowl fulla jelly. Don'tcha know _that_?"

The boy shook his head, his brown eyes wide. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a red sweater with a snowman on it and little black sneakers.

Regina rolled her eyes and said, "Ain'tcha never heard of _The Night B'fore Cwistmas?_ It's a cool story that Daddy read to me one night an' Unca Rumple too last time I was over his house. Santa comes down the chim'ney an' brings toys to all the good girls an' boys, only ya gotta be asleep else he don't come."

"He don't?"

"Nope. An if you're bad an' get on the Naughty List he don't bring ya any presents, just coal, rocks, n' reindeer poop."

"I been good!"

"Yeah? Then why're you 'fraid to sit on his lap?" the former Evil Queen demanded.

"Cause I . . . thought he was scawy."

"You don't sit on his lap an' tell him what you want for Cwistmas an' you'll get stuff like socks n' undies," she told him seriously.

"No! I wanna fire twuck!"

"Okay. So go over there an' tell him that. Else how's he gonna know?"

"My mommy?"

"Nah. Grown-ups don't talk to Santa!" Regina told him dismissively. "That's just for kids. Or you can talk to his scout elf. Like mine. Her name's Noel. Do you gots one at home?"

"No. How you get one?"

"I dunno. One came to my house. An' she goes to Emma's house an' Unca Rumple's too. So's she can make sure you're bein' good."

"But . . . I don' have an elf," sniffled the boy.

"Then go an' ask Santa for an' elf an' a fire truck," Regina instructed him. "He gives you more n' one present, ya know."

Abruptly, the little boy decided that now he wanted to go and sit on Santa's lap, and then he ran and grabbed his mother's hand. "Mommy, I wanna turn with Santa!"

"Okay, Danny, but we have to wait our turn. Because Mayor Nolan's little girl's first before us." She turned and smiled gratefully at Snow and David. "I . . . have to thank you for that. I can't believe she convinced him to see Santa. He's usually so shy, it's all I can do to get him to say hi to my relatives."

"Regina's good at convincing people," David laughed. "And you go on ahead of us . . . before your son changes his mind. We can wait."

"Oh, thank you, Mayor Nolan!" then she took her son over to Santa again, and this time Danny climbed up on his knee and told him how he wanted an elf and a fire truck.

"Okay, so long as you're a good boy, you'll get something under your tree on Christmas," said Santa. Then he laughed, "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!"

As Danny scrambled down and an elf handed him a bag of candy, Regina skipped over to Santa and hopped right on his lap. "Santa, I needs to ask you sumpin'."

"You do? And what's your name, child?"

"I's Regina Nolan. An' I wanna know how your reindeer fly? Is it with magic corn?"

"Well . . . it's . . . umm . . . kind of a secret . . ."

Regina gave him a Look. "Really? You can look it up online. Henry said it's magic oatmeal that make 'em fly, an' Alina said no, it's corn, an' Unca Rumple says they was borned that way, 'cause they's magic deer. So . . . who's right?"

Happy looked over at Snow and David with a kind of help-me expression on his face. Then, seeing Regina wasn't going to drop the matter until she had an answer, he finally said, "Well, I . . . think your Uncle Rumple has the right idea. And now, what do you want for Christmas?"

"I wants a puppy, an' a Barbie house, an' furniture to go in it, an' some new clothes an' a fairy costume," Regina said. "But you knows all this 'cause I sent you my list, right?"

"Of course," Happy said swiftly. "This is just . . . a reminder. And have you been behaving?"

"Uh huh." Then she turned and smiled when Snow cried "Say cheese!" and snapped her picture.

"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!" Happy said, relieved the interrogation was over.

But Regina had one more question to ask. "What kinda cookies you like? So's I can leave some with milk for you?"

"Uh . . . I . . . like all kinds. So just . . . put down some of your favorites," he managed to get out.

"Kay, Santa! Merry Cwistmas!" then she jumped down, got her treat bag, and ran back to David, grinning.

Snow stopped by the booth to get her picture, and then said, "I'll have to get some more made so we can give them out to Emma and Rumple. Aren't they adorable?"

"They sure are, hon," David agreed.

"Yup! That's me . . . adorable!" Regina crowed.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

The next morning, it was quite cold, and gray clouds scudded across the sky. Rhea woke and looked out the bedroom window and said to Jack, "Looks like it's going to snow, love."

Jack snuggled underneath the warm blankets and muttered, "You'd know, sweetheart, since you're the Enchantress of the North." Then he put his head under the pillow and went back to sleep.

Rhea poked him a few times before deciding she might as well leave him be and then got up herself, putting on her thick quilted robe with blue snowflakes on it and her fuzzy white slippers before going downstairs to see who was awake.

She found Belle in the kitchen, cooking porridge over the stove, while Alina made tea and packed her lunch for school.

Rumple came in from warming up his Cadillac, and crept up on Belle and hugged her from behind, planting a kiss on her cheek and saying, "Surprise, dearie!"

"Rumple!" she giggled, as his hands barely spanned her large middle now. "Don't make me burn the porridge!"

"You burn it and I'll just make more," he replied, his eyes sparkling. He gestured, and his Bose began to play _All I want For Christmas Is You_ sung by Mariah Carey. "Let's dance, Belle."

"Dance? Rumple, I'm the size of . . . of a hippo!" Belle objected. "I can't dance . . . and I'm cooking!"

"So what? Rhea, dearie, come and stir this porridge," he ordered, and then he grabbed Belle and began to dance across the floor, levitating her gently as he did so. "See, sweetheart? You can dance . . . with a little help."

"Rumple!" Belle cried, startled. "What's gotten into you?"

"It's Christmas. And it's time to celebrate," he replied, and waltzed with her all over the kitchen, his face alight with a joy she had not seen in days.

Alina just stared at her parents, then she started clapping and swaying to the music while Rhea stirred the oatmeal and winked at Belle as she went by.

The song ended and Rumple gently deposited Belle back beside the stove, giving her another kiss as he did so.

Just then _Blue Christmas _sung by Elvis came on, and Rumple turned and said, "Alina, your turn," and took his daughter's hand and twirled about with her.

Belle blinked and said softly in Rhea's ear, "I'd wonder what he'd had to drink, but I know he doesn't indulge since our vacation in Manhattan."

"I think this is a result of our conversation last night," Rhea said, chuckling. "Sometimes letting go of that mountain of guilt on your shoulders can make you very glad and prone to . . . acting a little giddy."

"I can see that. Not that I mind," Belle smiled as she watched her husband spinning round and round with her daughter. "I'd much rather have him this way then brooding like a thundercloud. Whatever you did, Rhea, I thank you for it."

"Heavens, Belle! I didn't do much, just showed him a few truths, is all. But I'm glad he's happy now," Rhea chuckled, and then stepped back and let Belle give the porridge a final stir before adding handfuls of brown sugar, cinnamon, bananas and chopped walnuts to it.

"Breakfast!" Belle called, bringing a large bowl of oatmeal to the table, along with some bacon on a platter.

Rumple stopped dancing with Alina around the kitchen table. "Better eat, dearie, before you're late for school. And I'm late for work."

Alina sat down at her usual place, saying, "That was fun, Papa."

"It was, wasn't it?" Rumple said, dishing up some porridge. "We'll have to do that again sometime. Maybe at the Tessaro's party."

"Who's that?" asked Rhea.

Rumple told her about the Italian magical family they'd met while on vacation in New York, and then he said he'd talk more later, but he'd better drop off Alina at school and go to work before they were both late.

He kissed his wife and his sister goodbye and then followed Alina out the door, leaving the two women to finish eating and then keep the rest of the food warm with a spell Rhea cast until the others woke up.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_Storybrooke Elementary:_

"It's so cold out today that my breath made frost sparkles when I came to feed Arion this morning," Henry told Alina as they sat down for homeroom. "I've got to show Will and Jess him. Maybe I can do that tomorrow morning, since we don't have school."

"Yeah, and aren't you coming over to help make gift baskets with Papa like we always do?" Alina asked.

"Sure, and I think Regina is too," Henry said.

"I wish it would snow," Hans said longingly, gazing out the window.

"I love the snow," Ash added wistfully.

"I love it too . . . because we have no school," Hans reminded them.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll snow today," Grace remarked. "My papa says it looks like a snowy sky."

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed," Hans said hopefully, then sat down as Snow called attendance.

During math, it began to snow, first slowly, with tiny flakes drifting upon the wind, and then harder, until snow was coating the ground.

Mary Margaret glanced out the window and halted in her lesson to gaze at the snowflakes falling rapidly.

The children cheered and twenty minutes later the principal announced that the school was closing early and everyone yelled and clapped in glee.

"Snow day! Snow day!"

As the children ran to get their coats, boots, and other winter gear on, Snow said to Henry, "I guess I'd better pick up Regina from Ashley's. Will you be okay, Henry and Alina, or do you want to come with me and I'll drop you off at Rumple's house?"

"We can go over to Papa's shop," Alina told her. "The snow's not deep yet and I'm sure he's going to close up and go home too."

"Yeah, I'll call my dad on his cell and let him know where I am," Henry said, and pulled out his iPhone and dialed Bae's number.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

Five minutes after the Golds had arrived home, Snow and Regina pulled up in her van and Regina burst into the Victorian, yelling, "It's snowing, Unca Rumple!"

"I can see that, dearie," her uncle called from the den, where he was coaxing a fire from the fireplace. He had traded his Dolce and Gabbana suit for more casual attire, and was now wearing his Arran sweater and some stonewashed designer jeans and his boots.

"Regina, wipe your feet!" Snow called as the child ran inside. "Before you fall!"

But the eager child didn't heed her warning and raced inside, skidding on the wood floor until she almost crashed into Will, who was walking across the foyer towards the den.

"Whoa there, sprite!" he said, and caught her before she collided with the wall, picking her up easily. "Snow and wood don't mix. Not on ships and not in houses."

"Will! I was skatin'!" the irrepressible toddler giggled.

He grinned. "Sort of. But you need real skates and a frozen pond to do that." He gently tugged off her boots and set her down. "If we can find one later, I'll teach you how."

"Okay! When?" Regina asked.

"When it stops snowing," he chuckled. "Now let's eat some cinnamon bread. My mama made it this morning."

"An' hot cocoa! With marshmallows!" Regina shrilled, and grabbed Will's hand and dragged him into the kitchen.

"She's sure got him trained," Snow snickered as Rumple came out of the den. "Look, Rumple. Here's a picture of Regina with Santa for you." She handed him a 5x7 of the little imp with Santa.

He took it and gestured. In a twinkling a gold frame surrounded it and he said, "That's lovely, Snow. I'll put it up in the den next Alina's pictures after I show Belle. Come in and sit down."

Snow seated herself at the table and while Belle exclaimed over the picture, cut herself some cinnamon bread and poured some tea from the blue willow teapot into a mug, stirring in some sugar and milk as she did so.

"The snow's coming down fast," she observed.

"And sticking also," Jess said, seated beside Will and eating her own piece of bread and drinking hot cocoa.

"Can we make a snowman?" queried Regina.

"If the snow is deep enough," Henry said. He loved the winter, and couldn't wait to go and play in the snow.

"And we can build a fort and have a snow war," Will said.

"A snow war! Yay!" Regina cried happily.

"If this keeps up we might have a white Christmas after all," Snow mused as the flakes continued to pile up.

"I hope so," Henry said. "I love the snow."

Snow looked at the increasing deluge and said worriedly, "Maybe I'd better call David and head home before it gets too bad out."

"You may as well stay here, dearie," Gold told her. "If it gets worse, you might lose power and then what? At least here, you won't freeze if the electricity goes out."

Snow nodded. "Didn't think about it. Thanks, Rumple. I'll tell David where we are."

While Snow dialed David, who was stuck at work initiating some emergency procedures along with Emma and Bae, Gold decided to watch _It's A Wonderful Life_ with the Sparrows, who had never seen the movie before.

Belle made popcorn with cinnamon sugar for everyone while they all settled down on the couch to watch the movie, as the snow fell silently, blanketing Storybrooke with its pristine icy beauty.

By the time the movie was over about six inches or so had fallen and more was still coming down.

Regina looked out the window and cried, "I wanna build a snowman! An' a snow angel!"

"But the snow's too soft yet," her mother told her.

"Aww . . . rats!" the child grumbled, scowling and looking as if she were about to kick the wall beside the window.

"Hmm . . . true, but maybe I can help with that," Rhea mused, her green eyes gleaming. "They don't call me the Enchantress of the North for nothing."

"Me too," Jess said, looking at her mother. She pulled a white willow wand from her belt, a tool she sometimes used to control freakish weather . . . or like now, when she came to a land that had different weather patterns and ley lines than those she was used to.

Together the two sorceresses concentrated, making the snow in the backyard firm enough to walk on and build things with, like forts and snowballs. They also slowed down the rate of snow falling, so it drifted gently and still stuck.

"There!" Rhea said. "Now you can build a snowman and snow angels, Regina. And we can have a snow war."

"Yeah, a snow war!" Will smirked. "I call your team, Mom."

Rhea chuckled and looked at her husband, who was happily ensconced in one of Rumple's afghans on the couch. "Jack, you be captain of the other team?"

"Aww, hell no, Rhea! I'm all comfortable right here, I don't want to freeze my you-know- what's off in the snow. All I need now are some cookies and some rum."

Rhea rolled her eyes. "Predictable pirate!" She looked around at the others. Belle couldn't engage in a snow war, not pregnant as she was, and she nearly considered asking Snow, but then her eyes alighted on her brother, and her mouth curled in a wicked smirk. "Hey, old dragon, I believe you still owe me a rematch from last time."

Rumple looked up . . . and caught the glint in his sister's eyes. "Rematch, dearie?"

"Uh huh. We were interrupted last time by some idiot knight wanting you to enchant his armor, and we never finished our game. Or don't you remember?" she reminded him.

"Oh, I remember, all right. I remember whipping your insolent behind, little sister," Rumple recalled.

"That was then, this is now, big brother," she teased. "I'm no longer your apprentice."

"Doesn't matter, dearie. I can still whip you," Rumple said.

"Promises, promises. Shall we see, old dragon?"

"That a challenge, dearie?"

"You up for it, Rumple?"

"I'm going to mop the ground with you, little sister," he purred. His eyes gleamed with a familiar decades-old sibling rivalry. "Okay . . . so who's on my team?"

"Me, Papa!" Alina said.

"Me too!" his grandson added.

"Mom, I'm on yours," said Jess loyally.

"Unca Rumple, can I play?" Regina ran and climbed on him.

"Sure, dearie." He looked at his sister. "The rules change with the baby."

"Of course. But between you and I, Rumple, it's anything goes," Rhea stated.

"I'll play, Rhea. On your team," Snow said.

"And Jack and I will watch . . . and drink cocoa and amaretto," Belle told them. "Or rather, I'll drink cocoa and Jack can have the amaretto."

"What's amaretto, Belle darlin'?" her brother-in-law asked.

"You'll like it," she assured him. "It's an Italian liquor. Sort of like a brandy."

"Break it out, and let's have a tot," Jack said, looking very happy. "I can sip it and watch my snow queen trounce your dragon husband."

"In your dreams, Sparrow!" Rumple snorted. "Regina, dearie, let's get your coat on. It's time to start a war."

Regina jumped off the couch, shrieking like a banshee. "Whoo hoo! Snow n' ice, sugar n' spice, the faster you run, the harder you fall, 'cause Unca Rumple's gonna make you eat a snowball!"

"Where'd she learn that one?" wondered Belle.

"Hans and Ash," Henry smirked, then went to get on his coat and scarf too. This was going to be some awesome snow battle and he couldn't wait to get the party started!

**A/N: Okay, dearies, now who can't wait to see the snow fly? Next chapter . . . let the war begin!**


	17. Snow Wars

**17**

**Snow Wars**

The troops marched out to battle, with Rumple in his black overcoat and gold mohair scarf (knitted by yours truly), carrying Regina, and Henry and Alina beside him. They were followed by Rhea, Snow, Will, and Jess.

"I call the treehouse!" Alina said, before the other side could think of it.

"Good thinking, dearie!" Rumple praised. "Always seek the high ground."

"We can build a wall around it," Henry said.

Regina squirmed free of Rumple's arms and threw herself backwards in the snow, waving her arms and legs. "I's makin' a angel!" she squealed. Then she stood up and her relatives all clapped when they saw it.

"She's beautiful, dearie," said Rhea, then had her team move over to the other side of the yard, with the swing set being the dividing line between the two teams.

"Okay, here's the rules," Rumple called when the two sides were facing each other. "We take half an hour to make ourselves a fort and snowballs. And the only ones allowed to use magic are me and Rhea. The rest of you, use your arms and hands and the brain you were born with. One other thing . . . no throwing ice balls or really hard packed snow at Regina. And it's three hits and you're out for five minutes."

"Is this snow war going to be brought indoors as well?" Rhea queried.

"For the kids, no. For us, yes. But there's certain no prank zones, like the den, the bedrooms, and anywhere Belle or Regina are. Everywhere else . . . it's anything goes, dearie . . . and the first one to score 100 points wins. Each hit counts for ten points with us, Rhea."

"Will, you keep score outside," Rhea instructed.

"And Alina, you keep score on the dry erase board inside," Rumple told his daughter. "Now . . .let's have a war . . . and may the best magic wielder win!" he clapped his hands and said, "Okay, let's start building some walls here."

Henry and Alina began making blocks of snow, while Regina called to Rumple, "Unca Rumple, I wanna make a snowman, like Frosty!"

"Okay, Regina, give me a minute and I'll help you," he said, then began making snowballs rapidly with his magic, until he had a pile nearly knee high behind the treehouse. "There! You two keep making the fort and let me help Miss Bossypants here with Frosty," he told his daughter and grandson.

Regina had tried to start rolling a snowball, but being small and inexperienced, couldn't get it started correctly. "Unca Rumple . . . help!"

"Here, dearie. Like this," and he quickly knelt and had the snowball she had made roll itself until it formed a large ball. "There, that's the base. And now we do another one."

This one he had Regina help roll and together they made one medium and another smaller one for the head. Then he had her gather two sticks for arms and put a scarf around his "neck".

"What about his face?" Regina asked.

"Here, you put buttons on him," Rumple said, conjuring swiftly, then reaching into his pocket and pulling out various sizes of buttons.

Regina gave her snowman eyes, a nose, and a smiling mouth, then put a row of buttons down his front. "Now where's his hat?"

Rumple twirled a finger and summoned an old top hat from his shop, with some mistletoe tucked in it. "Ready, dearie?"

Regina nodded eagerly. Then she sang, "There musta been some magic in that old silk hat they found, cause when they placed it on his head . . . he began to dance around!"

Rumple set the hat on their snowman's head . . . and suddenly the button eyes rolled and blinked and the snowman waved his arms about and said, "Merry Christmas!"

Regina jumped up and down. "Henry! Alina! Lookit! Frosty's come to life!"

"All right!" Henry grinned. "Snowman power!"

"Yeah!" Alina cheered. "Go, Frosty!"

Frosty bowed and gestured to Rumple, and said, "What are we doing, captain?"

"We're going to have the best snow war you've ever seen," Rumple told the snowman. "So get ready to throw some snowballs."

"One, two, three, four . . . let's start a snow war!" Henry and Alina chanted as they built their fort around the treehouse.

"Five, six, seven, eight, we're gonna make you drop down and faint!" Jess and Will yelled back as they also built a fort.

Meanwhile, Rhea created Freya, her lean mean snowball throwing machine, a snowgirl with attitude, and animated her.

Once it was determined that both sides had forts, snowballs, and snowmen, the war began . . . as Rumple shot a blue flare into the air.

Snow flew thick and fast through the air, landing on the fort and some on the snowmen, who threw superfast snowballs at each other and their magicians.

Regina tried to throw a snowball at Jess, but her arm was too little and she fell short. "Double hockey sticks!" she growled. Her older cousins were throwing dozens of missiles and she couldn't even get one snowball over to the other side.

"Need some help, Regina?" Rumple asked. "Okay . . . you throw a snowball and I'll help you get it over there."

She looked up at him doubtfully. "You sure?"

He nodded, kneeling beside her, and his hand glowed with purple light. "On three, Regina. One . . . two . . . three!"

Regina flung the snowball . . . and Rumple augmented it and it flew all the way across the yard and nailed Jess in the head.

"Whoo hoo! I did it!" Regina cheered.

"That's my girl!" Rumple praised, and he mussed her hat.

Then a return snowball arced his way, thrown by his sister, and he ducked and gestured, and a whole bunch of snowballs flew at her. "Take that, little sister!"

Rhea twirled her finger, and an ice shield popped up and halted all the snowballs.

"Go, Mom!" Will hooted, then aimed two snowballs at Henry.

Henry ducked, but one got him on the shoulder. He soon learned that his cousin was devilishly quick with his snowballs. But then he thought of a way to get back at him. "Alina! Cover me!" he called, then he began to crawl through the snow towards their fort, wriggling on his belly, while Alina threw snowballs to distract Jess and Will.

Alina had a good arm, thanks to softball, and managed to hit Will on the hand. "Gotcha!"

"Blast!" he muttered, knowing he had two more hits and he was out for five minutes. He flung two at one time, but both of them missed Alina and Rumple as well.

"Will, duck!" Jess shouted, as Rumple threw three snowballs in succession.

The boy did so . . . but then was caught by Henry's sneak attack, and ended up getting hit with two snowballs from his sneaky cousin.

"That's three and you're out," Rhea called.

"Great!" Will sighed, then went to sit out.

But Henry soon joined him, as Jess nailed him with three snowballs in retribution.

Snow threw two snowballs at Rumple, and then one at Regina, who was making faces where she stood behind Frosty.

The snowman moved then, catching the snowball on his front, and Regina hooted, "Missed me! Missed me! Now ya gotta kiss me, Mommy!"

"Little imp!" Snow chuckled, and lobbed some more snowballs at Alina and Regina.

Rhea counterattacked by making a pine tree throw a barrage of snowballs at Rumple.

Seeing the twenty or so missiles coming at him, Rumple gestured . . . and the snowballs were suddenly turned into slushy rain drops that spattered onto the ground before him. "Close, but no cigar, dearie!"

Freya and Frosty were going at it like gangbusters, and snow was flying like a blizzard all about the snowfolk, until one could hardly see the two from the snow in the air around them.

Until the air cleared and it was revealed that Frosty had lost his hat . . . and also his head, which was still attached to it!

"That's ten points for me, Rumple!" Rhea cheered.

Regina started sniffling. "No! Frosty's dead!"

Alina patted her on the back. "Don't cry . . . he'll come back to life in a little while . . . like maybe tomorrow. Right, Papa?"

"Right. Now . . . let's nail Auntie Rhea," Rumple told her.

Regina stopped sniffling and grabbed another snowball. "'Kay, Unca Rumple! I's ready!"

Rumple twirled his hand and created a swirling "snow" devil which flew across the yard and as Rhea went to counter it, augmented Regina's throw again so her snowball hit Rhea on the arm.

"What the . . .?" she gasped as the snowball whacked her.

"Gotcha!" Regina whooped, and then Rumple picked her up and put her on his shoulders and did an impromptu victory dance. "I won!"

"Way to go, Regina!" Henry called from the sidelines.

"Okay, dearie," Rumple said, putting Regina on the treehouse ladder. "Go up here and give us some aerial support."

"Huh?"

"Throw some snowballs out the window," he amended, forgetting that he wasn't talking to an older child for a moment. He stuck three in her pocket, figuring that with height she might have a chance of hitting something. And he also sensed the war was about to turn fierce.

Regina scurried up the ladder and into the treehouse, and then ran across to the window that faced the rest of the yard, where her aunt, mom, and cousin were.

Then she took a snowball from her pocket.

Henry and Will re-entered the game just as Jess took out Alina and Rumple did the same to Snow.

Then snowballs flew like crazy as each team tried to nail the other.

Freya went after Rumple, gliding across the snow and trying to bury the other sorcerer with a huge snow block.

But Rumple merely teleported away, then returned and gave a complicated gesture . . . and Freya froze in a block of ice.

"How's that feel, you ice maiden? Ten points!" he taunted, then came out from behind the fort to throw some snowballs at his nephew.

Rhea lobbed a snowball at him . . . but it fell short a few feet before hitting him.

Rumple chuckled. "Looks like you forgot to aim right, dearie."

"Did not!" she laughed.

Then the snowball exploded . . . showering him with snow crystals.

"Ten points, old dragon!"

Rumple shook his head, and then retreated behind the snow fort, just as Regina launched an attack of her own . . . and got Jess in the shoulder and Rhea on the ankle.

"What the deuce was that?" Jess yelped.

"Our secret weapon!" Henry yelled back.

Part of Rhea's fort collapsed when Rumple sent a huge snow boulder at it, which his sister then broke apart into tiny snowballs and sent them hurtling through the air at all of the opposing team.

"Ahh! Grandpa!" Henry shrieked, and ducked behind the walls.

When the powdery snow had settled, he peeked around . . . and saw his grandfather still standing, smirking at Rhea.

"I believe we need to take this inside, dearie . . . because the temperature's starting to drop now that sun's setting."

"He's right, Mom," Jess seconded her uncle.

"All right, but we take a five minute break first," Rhea bargained.

Rumple called Regina down from the treehouse and together he and the little girl started to walk past Rhea into the house . . .

. . . just as Regina slyly removed the last snowball from her pocket and threw it right in Rhea's face.

The startled sorceress sputtered and tried to wipe snow from her face.

Regina whooped in glee and chanted, "I rule and you drool, Auntie Rhea! Yeah! We are the champions!"

"Ten points, dearie!" Rumple cried, and then gave Regina a high five.

"My God!" Rhea coughed. "You sneaky little minx!"

"Good going, Regina!" cheered Alina.

"Where'd she learn that?" asked Snow, gaping.

"I think she was born knowing that, Gran," Henry said, smirking.

Once inside, the intrepid warriors took a break, allowing the kids to get warmed up with cocoa and cookies while the two sorcerers prepared for round two.

Alina drew up a scoreboard on the dry erase board in the kitchen, which Alice used to use to put notes on, and the score was tied with Rumple 30 and Rhea 30.

After drinking some holiday spice tea from his chipped cup, Rumple then thought up a wicked trick, though he waited until Rhea had finished her cocoa before taunting, "Heads up, baby sister!"

A small black cloud appeared above her head and it began to snow on her, thick fat flakes falling into her honey gold hair. "Gods darn you, Rumple!" she groaned at her clever brother. Then she waved her hand and tried to banish his conjuring.

"Ten points, Alina!" Rumple called.

Alina erased the 30 and put down 40.

Rhea made a face at Rumple and said, "I'm going to wipe that smirk right off your face, you mischievous old imp!"

"You mean, you'll try, little miss snow girl!" Rumple shot back, and moved past her into the kitchen . . . just as Rhea concentrated and created a "frozen" zone as he walked into the room.

"Ahhh!" Rumple yelped, since the frozen zone froze not just his hair . . . but his underwear as well. "Rhea, you little _brat!_" He half-jumped backwards, putting a hand on his backside, and concentrating as he did so, thawing himself out.

"Ten points, old dragon!" Rhea hooted, her green eyes twinkling.

"Dearie, you're going to regret that!" Rumple mock-growled, shaking a finger at her.

"That a wish or a promise, Rumple?" his sister demanded, then she spun around and transported herself into the den, where Belle was sipping cocoa with her feet up and reading a book and Jack was drinking some amaretto in a cut crystal snifter.

"Who's winning, love?" Jack queried.

"It's tied. For now," Rhea said, shaking her hair so it flew out like wings behind her.

"Hmm. Methinks I ought to do a little betting here," Jack mused, and looked at Belle. "Three to one says Rhea wins."

"I'll take that bet, Jack. And say four to one Rumple does," Belle replied.

"We'll see, won't we, pretty lass?" Jack winked at her.

Meanwhile, Rumple was in the kitchen trying to think up a good prank to use against Rhea when Regina skipped up to him, now wearing fuzzy striped red and pink socks and tugged on his sweater. "Unca Rumple! Unca Rumple!"

"Hey, Regina. What's up?" he asked.

"I gots to tell ya sumpin'," she hissed.

He knelt so she could whisper what it was in his ear.

"Thanks. That's a fabulous idea, dearie!" Then he handed her a chocolate chip and said, "Now, go by Auntie Belle and tell her how you helped our team outside."

Regina happily skipped out of the kitchen through the foyer, which had no frozen zone, and ran into the den, calling, "Auntie Belle! Auntie Belle! I made Jess eat a snowball!"

As soon as the child was out of the way, Rumple teleported to the top of the stairs and summoned something of Henry's to him, using a bit of magic to alter it slightly. Then he tucked it under his arm and waited for his sister to emerge from the den.

"Hey, Rhea! Decided to fold already?"

"Not on your life, Rumple me darlin'!" she snorted, then she came out from the den into the foyer. One hand glowed with eldritch power as she tried to see where her brother was.

Giggling like demented hyenas, Will, Jess, Henry, and Alina peered around the doorway of the den to see what was going to happen next, finding it hilarious to see their relatives behaving just like kids themselves.

Just then the front door opened with a gust of snowy air as Bae and Emma came in. "It's cold a witch's . . . err . . . heart out there," Bae began, recalling just in time that Regina was there. "Thank God it's warm in here, Papa . . ."

Suddenly Rumple slid down the stairs, which he had transformed into an ice slide as he swooshed down them, one hand pouring liquid ice down and the other shooting snowy missiles from Henry's Nerf gun at Rhea.

_Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!_

Rhea jumped as some of the projectiles struck her and she conjured a hasty blue globe which most of the stinging icy missiles glanced off of. "Rumple! Sneaky wretch!"

"Oh, dearie dearie dear!" he cackled as he fired more icy pellets at her.

Bae and Emma just stood there, their mouths hanging open.

"Oh my God! Gold, what the _hell_?" Emma cried.

Rhea raced around them and down the hall as Rumple skated after her, taunting, "You can run, but you can't hide, Mistress Scribble! Time to write yourself an epitaph!"

"Bite me, Rumple!" she yelled, and then vanished in a swirl of blue mist.

"Papa?" Bae stared at his father, who was now scanning the hallway, still holding his assault "rifle".

"Bae? Is that you?" Belle called from the den.

"Mama?" Bae entered the den and said, utterly confused. "Just what the hell's going on here?"

"Your father and your aunt are going through their second childhood . . . and having a snow war. They're keeping score with the dry erase board in the kitchen. What's it now, Alina?"

"Uh . . . Papa's winning, 50 to 40."

"That's crazy!" Emma muttered, shaking her head.

"But funny as hell," Jack sniggered from the couch. "And apparently their splendid little war has been going on since my wife was his apprentice back in the Enchanted Forest."

"You're kidding!" Emma exclaimed, just as Regina ran up to her and hugged her. "Hey, kid! How's it going?"

"Emma! I made a snow angel an' a snowman with Unca Rumple an' he made Frosty come to life . . . only Freya made him lose his head an' die . . ." she prattled to her sister, who picked her up and kissed her hello.

"Where's this scoreboard?" Bae said. "I've got to see it."

"It's in the kitchen, Dad," Henry began. "But be careful and watch out for—"

Too late.

Baelfire strode calmly into the kitchen from the den . . . and into the frozen zone.

"Son of a _bitch_! That's _cold!_" he bellowed.

"—the frozen zone," Henry finished lamely. "Oops!" Then he cracked up.

"Oooh! Bae, you said a bad word!" Regina gasped.

"Bae! Watch your mouth!" Belle reproved. "There's children here!"

"Sorry," came the muffled reply. "But what in . . . who did . . . I darn near froze my . . . bits and pieces off . . . Jesus H. Christ!"

"A little chilly, dearie?" Rumple queried as he teleported into the kitchen, smirking in amusement.

"Papa!" Bae gasped, rubbing his behind. "I darn near froze my butt off . . . among other things!"

"Sorry, should have warned you about that," Rumple chuckled, then laid a hand on his son's shoulder and sent a pulse of warmth through him, unfreezing Bae's underwear. "How's that? Better?"

"Oh, yeah!" his son gasped. "Which one of you thought that one up?"

"That'd be your aunt, Bae. She's got a wicked sense of humor. Must come from being raised by Baba Yaga."

"Uh huh. What's that you've got there?" Bae asked, indicating the Nerf gun.

"This? It's the Abominator, dearie. Henry's Nerf gun that now shoots all kinds of icy things—snow, sleet, hail."

"Like a magic machine gun?"

"Call it whatever you like, but it's going to win this war for me," Rumple snickered, then he slipped out of the kitchen on cat's feet, calling in a singsong chant, "Oh, itty bitty baby sister? Where are you? Come out, come out where ever you are!"

He heard a giggle coming from further down the hall, where the bathroom was.

Rumple crept down the hall, gun at the ready, looking and listening.

"Rumple-stilt-skin!" Rhea's voice called, singing his name and laughing. "I'm over here, dearie!"

"Nice try!" he muttered, throwing open the bathroom door.

"No! Here! Here!" came her voice from behind him.

He whirled . . . just in time to find little winged creatures with long bat-like ears and iridescent wings and huge glowing eyes in swirling windy raiment hovering above him.

"What the—snow sprites!" he cried.

Just as they spit ice balls at him.

"Arghh! Away, you little pests!" he yelped, trying to deflect the icy balls.

"Ten points!" Rhea yelled, reappearing up the hallway.

"Just you wait, I'm going to get you back," Rumple panted, then sprayed the sprites with a gush of warm water from the sink that made them scream and blink away, since snow sprites detested anything warmer than 30 degrees.

He pointed a finger and the floor beneath Rhea's boots suddenly split and cracked . . . sucking her into a slushy blue hole. "Try a Slurpie Sinkhole, dearie!"

"Ahhh!" she yelped as her lower half was frozen. Her teeth chattered as she tried to get out of it, but for the moment was shivering too much to do so.

"Ten points!" Rumple crowed. "What's the score now, Alina?"

"60-50, Papa!" Alina called. "You're winning!"

Rhea made a face and growled, "Like hell!" Then she glowed with a purple light and levitated herself out of the Slurpie Sludge, flicking it off herself and then sending a gust of wind at her brother.

Rumple ducked into the bathroom, then shot sleet at her from inside. "Had enough, Rhea?"

"In your dreams!" she called, conjuring a small shield, and then hopping backwards to avoid the sleet. She knew she had to think of something that would really get his goat . . . and soon.

"Let's play some hopscotch, sweetheart!" he cackled, his voice going high like it used to when he was the Dark One.

Suddenly the hall floor was turned into a hopscotch board and Rumple skipped on it like a child, hanging the gun over his shoulder and tossing down glowing little discs as he jumped towards her.

The discs popped loudly and spurted snow when he tossed them down.

Rhea began jumping too, trying to avoid the exploding discs, giving her brother a reluctant grin. "Clever, old dragon." She skipped backwards, the snowy projectiles almost dusting the toes of her boots.

"Cinderella dressed in yella went downstairs to kiss her fella, made a mistake and kissed a snake, how many doctors did it take to save her from her fate?" Rumple sang, throwing more popping snow grenades and hopping first on one foot and then the other while chanting the old jump rope rhyme. "One, two, three, four, five, I'm alive!"

At the last word, he whipped the gun from his back and started peppering the ground with tiny stinging projectiles.

"Damn it!" Rhea swore, and levitated up to the ceiling to avoid the pellets.

"Where the hell did he learn that song?" Emma asked. "I used to sing that when I skipped rope as a kid!"

"So did Grace and I," Alina giggled.

"Mom, kick his butt!" Jess yelled.

"You can do it," Will encouraged.

"Nuh uh!" cried Regina. "Unca Rumple kicks everybody's butt!"

"And I'm recording this on my phone," Bae stated, laughing hysterically. "And sending it to America's Funniest Home Vidoes!"

"You nuts?" his wife gasped. "How are you going to explain all the magic stuff?"

"CGI," he answered, smirking, as he pointed his phone at the two sorcerers.

"Alina, ten points!" Rumple called, reaching the end of the hopscotch board and spinning around. "Beat that, dearie!"

"Blizzard me this, Rumple!" Rhea cried, then sent a whirling funnel of stormy snowy weather down at him, and then blinked away.

Rumple held his hands above his head and clapped sharply three times.

The whirling funnel of snowy weather was banished, vanishing with a pop.

"Brrr! Not too shabby, babycakes!" Rumple tittered, still using his Dark One voice. "Now where'd you go?"

In the kitchen, Alina hastily erased Rumple's score and rewrote 70-60.

From outside they heard Rhea singing in a girlish voice, "You may wonder how come I love ya, when you get on my nerves like ya do, well dearie, it ain't your money, 'cause I got plenty of that, I love ya for your pink Cadillac, crushed velvet seats, ridin' in the back, peelin' down the street, dearie I just wonder what you do in the back of your pink Cadillac . . ."

Rumple suddenly got a bad feeling and felt his hair stand on end. "Oh, hell no!"

He yanked open the front door and went down the stairs onto the walk, peering around for his tricky sister . . . until he glanced over in the driveway . . . and saw his vintage shiny mint condition Cadillac . . . encased in a solid block of ice in his driveway.

"_Rhea!_" he howled. "My **_car_**!"

"All's fair in love and war, dearie!" she laughed wickedly, sitting up in the branches of the oak tree in his front yard, giving him a wave like a little girl.

Rumple ground his back teeth together. "You . . . you . . ." he sputtered, unable to come up with anything that didn't involve a swear word to call her.

"Ten points, Rumple!"

His shout brought half the family out to see what had happened.

When they saw the frozen car they all started laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh, boy!" Emma gasped, wiping tears from her eyes. "One thing with this family . . . you are _never_ bored!"

It was at just that moment that Belle called them in to order some dinner from Granny's, and so the snow war came to a halt . . . tied at 70-70. Later on, Rumple said, they could vote and declare a winner, but right now they were all starving, and he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into a double bacon cheeseburger with all the fixings.

**A/N: Okay, dearies. I have a bit of a dilemma here and need you to help me out. Who should win the snow war? Please choose either Rhea or Rumple and vote in the poll I've posted on my profile page. Thanks! **


	18. Secret Santa

**18**

**Secret Santa**

Just as they were all heading inside, it started snowing again. At the same time as the snow was falling, David pulled up in Gold's driveway in his blue truck. The former prince and mayor of Storybrooke got out and just stared bug-eyed at Gold's Cadillac, still encased in its block of ice in the driveway. "Uh . . . what _hell_ happened to your car, Rumple?" he managed to get out.

"I happened," Rhea said, smirking. "Along with a snow war."

"Daddy!" yelled Regina. "Think fast!"

"What?" he began, turning to face her.

Just in time for him to get a snowball in the head, thrown by his ever-loving wife . . . and another one slammed into his groin, flung by an enthusiastic Regina.

His mouth opened in an "O" of shock and pain . . . and he stumbled backwards against his truck, whimpering and trying not to yell, his hands involuntarily cradling his tender parts.

"David! Oh my God!" Snow gasped, biting her lip and trying not to laugh . . . because it really wasn't funny . . . she hadn't meant for him to get hurt . . . just play a joke, but Regina didn't really know how to aim yet . . . or rather her aim was a little too low . . . and yet at the same time it was hysterical.

Behind her, Emma was covering her mouth with her hand, trying valiantly not to laugh, and so was Jess, Belle went inside to get some ice, Bae was wincing in sympathy along with Jack, and Will hissed, "Oh, gods and hells, that has to hurt!"

"Ouch!" Henry shook his head.

Alina and Rumple came down the stairs, Rumple reached for the other man, saying, "Dearie, can you straighten up a bit? Here, let me help . . ."

"Papa, I can heal him," Alina started to say.

Just as Regina cried, "Bullseye!"

Emma and Jess collapsed against the wall, busting out laughing.

On the other side of the driveway, Rhea was undoing her spell on the Cadillac, and didn't know quite what had occurred, though she thought it had something to do with a snowball fight, and began snickering too.

Snow lost it after that, and even Bae and Jack started smirking.

"You know, we really shouldn't be laughing," Bae coughed. "I can only imagine how that feels . . ." he shuddered.

"Yeah, but I'm thankful it ain't me, mate," Jack said honestly. "You gotta watch out for little kids and balls . . . err . . . you know?"

"Triton's trident, Dad!" Will gasped, then turned away, covering his mouth with his hand to muffle his own laughter.

Rumple managed to sling Charming's arm over his shoulder, then said softly, "Alina, dearie, do a quick numbing spell, and I'll heal, okay?"

"Sure, Papa," said the young enchantress, and she took David's arm and sent a soothing pulse of violet energy down it and into his sore spot.

David gasped in relief, and muttered, "Thanks, Alina!"

Then Gold sent his own magical pulse into the mayor from the opposite side and healed the mishap. "How's that? Better?"

"Yeah . . . I think I can stand up again, buddy. Thanks!" David said, and did so. "Oh my God, but she's lethal with a snowball, Rumple!"

"I think that was a lucky shot, dearie," the sorcerer remarked, drawing back from his in-law.

"David, are you . . . err . . . okay?" Snow asked belatedly.

"Thanks a lot!" he snapped at her. "Our daughter nearly emasculates me and you're laughing," he grumbled as she came up to him.

"I'm sorry . . . I couldn't help it," she said, sounding contrite, but then she looked down at the spot where the snowball had hit him, which was wet, and had to bite her lip again. "Regina, honey, you should be more careful when you . . . err . .. throw," she called to their daughter. "You . . . err . . . hurt your father . . ."

"I did?" Regina looked alarmed.

"Never mind, princess," David said quickly. "I'm fine now. It was an accident." Then he muttered softly to Snow, "But you're lucky Rumple was here because I might have been unable to have kids after that."

Snow was about to apologize again, having gotten her mirth under control, when Rhea unfroze the Cadillac and then came around it, saying, "Okay, what'd I miss?"

That innocent question caused everyone to crack up . . . and this time even David joined in.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

After everyone had ordered something, Rumple volunteered to go and pick the food up, just to test out his car after being frozen. Will and Jess wanted to accompany him, having not been out of the house and wanting to see more of the quaint little town. So they hopped into the car along with Rumple, after he had warmed it up and made sure the engine was running properly.

Both younger Sparrows were impressed with how fast the car went and how comfortable it was to ride in. "It sure beats a coach or a phaethon any day of the week," Jess said, peering out the window at all the lights on the street and the buildings.

"Or on horseback, since after longer than a few miles, your behind starts to hurt," her brother added.

Gold drove slowly down the street, allowing his two passengers to see all the shops and businesses, and he pointed out the clock tower with the library where Belle worked as head librarian and his pawnshop, the school, Archie's office, Marco's workshop, and finally Granny's diner.

"What makes those lights so bright?" Jess asked. "Magic?"

"No, dearie. This world doesn't have magic like our other realm, it has something called electricity," Rumple explained.

"Like lightning?" she frowned.

"In a way, only the people here use lightbulbs and cables to channel it. You've seen the lamps and lights in my house, right?"

"Yeah, but I thought they were magically lit."

"No, because I didn't always have my magic here. When I first came to this world, I was under a curse, the same as everyone else here, and I didn't even know who I truly was or that I was a magician. I lived like an ordinary man then, as Mr. Gold, without magic and used this world's electricity, which powers almost everything in it. Even now, we still use it, because it's easier than my using magic to do everything."

"So that sign is lit by . . . electricity?" Will surmised, indicating the sign on the diner.

"Exactly, as are most things around here. Come on, they should have our order ready now, and we don't want to be late getting it," their uncle said, getting out of the car.

"Uncle Rumple, does your car run by electricity?" was Will's next question.

"Well, it does, but only some things in it. Its engine runs by gasoline, another kind of fuel in this world."

"I think my head is spinning," his nephew muttered.

"Will, don't over analyze things," his sister told him. "Just accept that things here run by something other than magic and that's that."

"But I want to know how things work," her brother argued.

"I'll give you a book to read when we go back home," Rumple said, forestalling any further arguments. "Let's go." He started to walk towards the diner entrance, with the two teenagers following.

Will paused as they reached the doors to glance up once more and marvel at the sign, and for an instant, he was illuminated by the bright light.

Across the street, some bushes swayed in the wind, rustling faintly, and something peered out of them at the boy.

But Will didn't notice and soon he followed Rumple and Jess inside, where they were waiting at the counter for Granny to bring their order out, and as soon as he went inside, the eyes vanished.

Granny was coming out with a third bag, saying to Gold, "This is the bag with the onion rings and the mashed potatoes with gravy, and Ruby's almost done boxing up the roast beef sandwiches and the BLT's, and Regina's macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. Her dinner also comes with a dessert, we've got chocolate pudding, rice pudding, bread pudding, and apple crisp. What would you like?"

"The apple crisp," Gold told her. "She loves apples."

"It figures," Granny said, rolling her eyes. Will walked in then, and she looked over to see who had come in, and nearly fell over. "Jumping Jehosephat, Gold! What'd you do, make a doppelganger for yourself?"

Rumple smirked. "No, this is my nephew, Will Sparrow. Will, this is Granny Lucas, who owns this establishment."

"Please to meet you, ma'am," Will said, and held out a hand, smiling.

Granny shook it, saying, "Same here, lad. God, he even smiles like you, Gold."

Ruby came out of the back with another bag and almost dropped it when she saw Will. "Oh my God! It's Rumple Jr.! Is this like . . . some long lost son you never told us about?"

"My mom gave me away to the Gypsies when I was a baby and never told him," Will chuckled, his brown eyes sparkling. "Only kidding. Name's Will Sparrow. I'm his nephew."

"Ruby Lucas," Ruby said, and eyed the boy up and down. "You know, I'm free tomorrow night—" she said with her signature sultry grin.

"Sorry, dearie. He's sixteen," Rumple said quickly, before things got out of hand.

Ruby looked disappointed. "Aww, shoot! I was gonna ask him to go for a drink."

"Uh . . . okay . . ." Will stammered, looking flattered.

"No, it's not," Rumple cut in. "Over here, you're not old enough to be served alcohol in public, Will. For that you need to be twenty-one."

"Sorry, sugar. Rumple's right," Ruby said softly. "And your mama would probably be breathing fire if she knew I'd asked you out, since I'm almost twice your age."

Will flushed and muttered, "I like older women."

"Will! Mom would skin you, and you know it!" Jess hissed. "You won't even walk out with Barbara McCoy at home!"

"That's different," he whispered back. "She's like my sister, I've known her since we were six."

Granny made shooing motions with her hands and Ruby shrugged and went back into the kitchen. "Forgive my granddaughter, Gold, she's just . . ."

"No harm done," Rumple said, then turned to his niece and nephew. "Will, Jess, take these out to the car. I'll be along as soon as I've paid for this." He handed the two a bag apiece, and gestured for them to leave.

They went, with Jess half-dragging a reluctant Will out the door.

Gold waited while Granny boxed up some apple crisp and then tallied up his order. "Shall I just put it on your tab?"

"No, I'll pay for it now," he said, then handed her the money when she gave him the bill. "Here. Give this to Ruby, and Merry Christmas." He handed her a hundred dollar bill.

Granny nearly fainted. "Are you feeling all right, Mr. Gold?"

"Yes. Thank you for getting this together so quickly. Have a good night," he replied, then picked up the apple crisp and left.

Granny just stared at the bill in her hand and muttered, "What's gotten into _him_?" then tucked it away in her apron pocket to give to Ruby later.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

By the time they had all eaten dinner, the snow was falling even more thickly than before, and the Weather Channel said that Maine was expected to get about eight to ten inches of snow.

"More like nine," Jess said. "Not bad."

David frowned. "Snow, maybe we should head on home, before the roads get too much snow on them."

"Just stay here tonight, David," Belle offered. "We've got room."

"That's nice of you to offer Belle, but Snow, we have to go home and finish wrapping the S-A-N-T-A G-I-F-T-S's," he reminded his wife.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot. And I need to see if there's any messages on our machine from the p-u-p-p-y person," she recalled.

"In that case, dearie, leave Regina here with us," Gold said. "Then you can do what you need to without worrying about little pitchers with big ears and eyes. And there's that little matter we discussed before that I can take care of tonight." He tapped his head meaningfully.

"Oh! That's right," Snow said, nodding. Rumple had told them about Regina's little accident when she was sick and how she probably still had some repressed trauma he needed to dreamwalk her through. "Okay, Regina, honey, you can stay here with Uncle Rumple tonight."

"Kay, Mommy!" Regina looked delighted.

"You behave yourself, okay?" David said, hugging her. "Because Noel's watching and going to report back to Santa." He indicated the scout elf, who was now perched on the mantle over the fireplace.

"Uh huh. I be good, so's Santa brings me a puppy," Regina said, kissing him.

"In that case, we'd better head on home too," Bae said. "I've got snow tires on the Escape, but better safe than sorry."

"Dad, I'm supposed to help Grandpa and Grammy with the gift baskets," said Henry. "So I should just stay over too."

"Okay, tiger. You've got pajamas here, right?"

"Yeah, I left some here last time," his son said.

"Well, you behave too, so Santa will bring you a new X-Box," Emma smirked, and ruffled her son's hair.

"I will, Mom." Henry said.

After they had said goodbye to their parents, Regina and Henry headed into the dining room with Alina to help set out the baskets along the table. Traditionally, the Golds gave out thirty-five baskets each year to those families who were in need, usually ones who had several children or were elderly or even those who had no family, like Dr. Jo, to celebrate with.

The types of things in each basket varied, depending on who it was for, though everyone got a plate of cookies or Belle's homemade fudge, some kind of food, and bottles of sparkling cider or wine. Those with small children received age appropriate presents, usually ones that were unaffordable, like dolls that acted like real babies, or in-line skates, real leather cowboy boots and play six-shooters, Gameboys, Fur-Real cats and dogs, robots, books, dress up clothes and so forth. One little boy received an entire art set, with an instruction book because Henry said Justin liked to draw, and his sister Audrey got the illustrated Little Women and a collectible Jo March doll, since she loved literature according to Alina.

Usually the families got an entire Christmas dinner, like a ham or turkey with all the trimmings, and some practical gifts as well, such as knitted scarves hats, mittens, sweaters, shawls, or afghans made by Rumple himself. One boy who was about a year or so older than Henry got some expensive hockey skates, and his younger brother equally expensive basketball shoes. Those whom Rumple knew wouldn't accept the baskets out of pride, he gave anonymous envelopes of money, which would appear in their mailboxes on Christmas day.

Rumple and Belle knew what gifts to give to each child thanks to their helpers, Alina, Henry, and Grace, who would listen to the children during recess or talk to their older siblings and find out what they really wished for at Christmas. The Gold children wrote them down and gave the list to Belle or Rumple so they could shop for the gifts.

Some families had special baskets made for them, like Sean and Ashley and baby Alexandria, who had a dinner plus a scarf, hat, and gloves for Sean, an expensive bottle of perfume for Ashley, and an entire layette set for Alexa, which included a sweater, hat, mittens and booties in rainbow hued yarn and a tiny ragdoll with sewn-on clothing able to be hugged and chewed on with special charms on it so it wouldn't rip or become wet or dirty.

For Dr. Jo there was a tea basket, which Belle had designed with a Lennox teapot and two cups with saucers, some imported English tea of different kinds, homemade cinnamon scones, lemon tea bread, some preserves and cookies, and Belle had embroidered some fine linen napkins with teacups and roses. She also included a rare herbal with many illustrations. To that Rumple had added one of his special mohair shawls, of a creamy gold color with special spun silver thread. The thread was used to embroider a pair of angel wings on the right side of the shawl and also the magical runes for protection, warmth and hope beneath them. Being a magic user herself, Rumple knew that Jo would recognize them. Hers was also the only basket with a card, written in Belle's elegant script, _To our friend, you who have given us so much, so we now return the favor, may you have a blessed and peaceful holiday, and celebrate the joys of the season. Love always, Belle, Rumple, Alina, and the Gold twins_.

That night, Belle, Rhea, and Jack assembled half the baskets, and wrapped them with colored cellophane. Tomorrow, the rest of the baskets would be assembled and then Rumple would deliver them to each recipient, helped by the children, including Regina, Will, and Jess this year.

Regina watched them, then asked her aunt, "Auntie Belle, what you doin'?"

Belle turned to the child and replied, "We're making baskets as gifts to give to needy families."

"Why?"

"Because the best gifts at Christmas are those you give away," she answered. "And it's better to give than receive."

Regina thought about that for a moment, then said, "Can I put sumpin' in the baskets, Auntie Belle?"

"You may," Belle nodded. "What would you like to put?"

"I gots to make it first," the toddler said. Then she ran into the kitchen and went and opened the drawer where Belle had her keep her coloring books, crayons, scented washable markers, and a pad of drawing paper.

She pulled out the pad and the markers and began to draw after putting them on the table. After seven minutes she stopped and ran back into the dining room to show Belle the "Cwistmas cards" she had made and Belle smiled at the snowmen, trees, hearts, bells, and apples the child had drawn on the paper, signing the cards with an "R" on the bottom, which was the only letter she knew how to write.

"Those are wonderful, Regina. See, we'll put them in the baskets here," Belle said, and added the cards to Ashley's basket, Dr. Jo's, and other ones with children who would appreciate Regina's efforts. "That was very nice of you."

Regina beamed happily . . . until she heard Rumple call, "Regina, you need to clean up this mess, dearie."

"Aww . . . but Unca Rumple!"

"Don't Uncle Rumple me, little miss," he ordered firmly. "Come here and put away these art supplies."

Regina scowled. "No. I'll do it later!"

"You'll do it now."

"Regina, listen to Uncle Rumple," Belle warned. "Or else you'll go to bed without eating your apple crisp."

The toddler sulked. Then she stuck out her lower lip and pouted. She wanted her dessert but she didn't feel like putting away her paper and markers.

"Regina!" Rumple called, then he appeared in the doorway of the dining room. "Put those things away right now, young lady." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don' wanna!" she said stubbornly, glaring back at him with one of her Royal Brat looks.

"Then I guess you want to go to bed early with no dessert and a time out," he said sternly.

"No-o!" she whined.

"Then go clean up."

"Why?"

"Because I said so, that's why," he replied. He tapped a foot on the floor. "_Now_, Regina. Or shall I count to three?"

Normally that threat worked, but tonight the toddler was showing her stubborn intransigent side, and refused to listen. "I don' _wanna_!" she whined aggravatingly.

Rumple started counting. "One."

Regina's lower lip stuck out and she shook her head. She didn't know quite why she was defying her uncle, but she did know she didn't want to clean up, it was boring!

"Two. Better hurry, you know what happens if I get to three, dearie," he warned, giving her one last chance to obey.

Regina stamped her foot on the carpet. "No!" she wailed, and started to cry.

"Rumple, I think she's overtired," Belle said.

"I don't doubt it. But that attitude isn't going to get her anywhere with me." He tried again. "Regina, pick up your things, and stop this. Noel's watching and you don't want Santa to see you being naughty, right?"

"Unca Rumple, _you_ pick 'em up!" she cried.

Across the room, where the older kids were playing rummy, Henry shook his head and muttered, "Somebody's in trouble now."

"And how," muttered Will, raising an eyebrow.

"If we'd acted like that, Mom would have given us a swat and a time out," Jess remarked.

"That's what Papa usually does," Alina predicted.

"Three," Rumple said. "Your choice, dearie."

Regina turned to bolt, but Rumple moved and picked up the naughty child, who immediately started howling.

Ignoring the shrieks, Rumple carried the disobedient toddler into the kitchen, his jaw clenched.

Jack winced and so did Rhea, then the pirate murmured, "I'm so glad those days are over for us."

Rhea nodded.

Regina tried to squirm out of her uncle's hold, but Rumple held her firmly. He marched over to a corner of the kitchen, set her down, gave her bottom a spank, and stuck her nose against the wall.

"Five minutes," he said, over the wails and sobs.

Then he stood behind her until the time out was done.

Regina bawled and squirmed, then tried to leave the corner, but Rumple just made her face the wall again.

Finally it was over and he said, "Okay, enough. Anybody would think I was torturing you, imp. Next time behave and you won't end up here." He picked up a now remorseful child and hugged her.

Regina whimpered, "I sorry, Unca Rumple!"

He sat down with her and gently rubbed circles on her back, saying, "You going to listen now and do what I ask?"

"Uh huh," she sniffled and he wiped her face with a dishcloth and held her until she calmed down.

"All right, minx. Now go pick up your markers and paper and put them back."

This time she obeyed his softly-voiced command, and afterwards came back and gave him puppydog eyes. "Can I have apple cwisp now?"

He sighed. "No. Naughty girls who end up in time out don't get dessert. You can have it tomorrow. I think you've had way too much sugar today and that's why you're cranky tonight."

"Unca _Rumple_!" she sulked.

"Ah ah," he shook his head at her. "None of that, dearie. You chose to misbehave and now you take the consequences. But . . . you can have some warm milk with a little bit of honey." He figured that would help her sleep.

She agreed, reluctantly, and curled up in his lap with her cup after he'd made some for her, slowly sipping the drink until her eyes started to close.

He carried her upstairs after the cup almost fell from her hand onto the floor, putting her in a Pull Up and some warm pajamas with a flick of his wrist then tucking her into bed.

He then dragged the chair he used to dreamwalk her over to the bed and prepared to trance himself when Rhea appeared in the room.

"Belle told me you're going to dreamwalk her. Mind if I tag along. You know you shouldn't walk the astral without a partner, old dragon," she said.

"I know, but before you came I was the only one capable of doing so," he replied, for what she said was a rule he had learned the hard way and had taught to her years ago. "Pull up a chair, Rhea."

She conjured a rather comfy one and said, "You're dealing with repressed memories from her first childhood, right?"

"Yes," he explained how he had dreamwalked with her before and how he had probably not gotten all the memories he'd needed to then. "This won't be the last time either, probably."

She nodded. "It won't. If her childhood was anything like mine, it'll take at least a few years to locate them all. But I can help by finding the worst ones and tagging them for you, Rumple, while you deal with this one. I'll also watch your back."

"Thanks," he said sincerely. "She was overtired tonight, which makes her stressed and cranky and brings out her temper."

"Like it does to all of us," his sister chuckled, then closed her eyes and began to meditate.

Rumple followed suit, and soon the two archmages were drifting through the dreamscape.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_The dreamscape:_

_Rhea's form in the astral was glowing with icy white and brilliant blue streaks_, _just like Rumple's was gold, purple, and white, their auras indicative of the magic they wielded, gold and purple for the Elemental Mastery Rumple commanded and blue and white for the spiritual Seer. The astral also made it plain if one was a follower of light or dark, since it was impossible to hide the truth in this plane of existence, the astral was a spirit realm, and it stripped bare all illusions and lies, leaving only pure unvarnished truth to be seen. The white tinge to Rumple's gold and purple aura showed him to be, once more, a Light practitioner, freed from the curse that had bound him for so many centuries._

_"I'll meet you back here in . . . an hour or so," he told his sister, then he went through an ornate door, like that in a queen's palace._

_Rhea sketched a watch ward before the door, to alert her if anything unsavory happened to wander near, then she too vanished, using her Sight to seek out some of the repressed memories Regina still had within her mind and tag them with magic so Rumple could find them next time._

_Rumple entered Regina's memory palace, finding himself back within the same set of ornate rooms as he'd been in last time, with their opulent lush velvet crimson and black bed hangings and curtains and thick tapestries. On the padded stool before her vanity was Cora, dressed in her usual crimson gown with the ruby necklace, which Rumple assumed was the outfit that Regina saw her most in as a child. _

_Cora's pretty face was drawn into a scowl as she glared daggers at her small daughter, who was cringing in front of her. "Again, Regina? How many times have I told you, only filthy little peasants and disgusting little beasts wet their beds at night?"_

_"Mommy, I sorry!" the child wept, clutching the hem of her silky nightie, which bore a telltale wet stain on it. _

_"Sorry, are you? You've just ruined another silk nightie with your disgraceful behavior!" Cora scolded._

_"I didn't mean it, Mommy!" tears were trickling down the child's face._

_"But, poppet, you did, otherwise this wouldn't have happened," the queen purred, her eyes suddenly harder than diamonds. "Clearly you need to be taught another lesson. Fetch me the Attitude Adjuster."_

_"No-o! Mommy . . . I sorry!" Regina burst into tears. "I w-won't do it 'gain!"_

_"Get it! If I summon it, it'll be worse!" Cora snarled._

_Regina slunk towards a corner of the room, and went behind one of the crimson drapes, returning a moment later with a wooden paddle in her small hands. She crept across the floor, sniveling in terror._

_Cora took the paddle and bent the sniveling child over her knee, then began to wallop her behind with the paddle, saying as she did so, "You . . . don't . . . pee . . . in . . . your . . . bed like a . . . little . . . puppy . . . you disgusting wretched child . . ." She brought the implement down after each word, ignoring poor Regina's screams._

_Rumple gritted his teeth as he observed, knowing he had to let the memory play out before he could intervene, his temper spiking as he did so. When he felt the dreamscape waver, he acted, appearing in it and snarling, "You vicious harpy bitch! Leave her ALONE!"_

_Cora looked up and growled, "How dare you interfere with my discipline? Get out!"_

_"Not yet, dearie. She's a child, and all children have accidents. There's nothing wrong with it, she'll grow out of it. Unlike you, who will never grow out of your cruelty, with or without the heart you've got in that casket!" Rumple gestured and the sobbing child was pulled off of Cora's lap and placed gently on the bed._

_Cora gestured and knives flew at Rumple. "You cretin! I said get out! I'm her mother, I'll deal with her as I see fit!"_

_"A dog's a better mother than you, you bitch!" Rumple spat, deflecting the knives by transmuting them into shafts of light. He stalked forward, touching the weeping child gently and healing her, then whispering in her ear, "Watch this, baby girl. Bad mommies who beat their children get punished too."_

_Then he gave a high-pitched giggle and cried, "You like using that paddle, dearie? Why don't we see how much?" He suddenly morphed into his former Dark One persona and ribbons of green and gold light shot out, wrapping Cora like a mummy._

_Furious, the queen tried to banish them, but Rumple was altering the dreamscape and she was no match for him. He stalked forward, snapping his fingers, and an extra large paddle appeared in his grip. His eyes glinting, he hissed, "Now, shall we see how much your attitude needs adjusting, dearie?"_

_"Release me! I'm the queen!" Cora yelled struggling against her bonds. "I'll have you flayed alive!"_

_Regina watched, wide-eyed, as a very smug and angry Dark One dragged her mother across his knee, flipped up her skirts, and proceeded to wallop the daylights out of her._

_"Oww! I'll have you drawn and quartered! OWW! Drowned in your own blood! Oww! Off with your head! Oww! Oww! Stop! Please!" _

_"Oh, not yet, Your Majesty. Not till you've learned **your** lesson," the former imp cackled, bringing the paddle down again. "You . . . don't . . . beat . . . your . . . child . . . you . . . wicked . . .naughty . . . evil . . . witch!"_

_Within seconds he had the Queen of Hearts bawling like a baby and only when his arm grew tired did he stop and point to a corner and say, "Now stand over there and think about what you've done!"_

_Cora limped over to the corner, howling, her hands clutching her sore throbbing behind._

_Rumple snapped his fingers and the paddle went and hovered over her, as he said, "Be still, dearie, or else it'll remind you to behave!"_

_"Go to hell, you sadistic beast!" the queen snarled, whirling about._

_She barely turned a quarter of the way when the paddle attacked her, whacking her behind._

_Yelping, Cora bolted for the door, the paddle in hot pursuit. _

_As she raced out of the room, yelling as she did so, Rumple morphed back into his familiar Gold self and went and picked up Regina. "There now, dearie. Forget. Forget." He bent and kissed her, erasing the awful memory and replacing it with Snow holding her and singing a silly song while teaching her a clapping game and eating cookies in the kitchen of their loft._

_"One for you and one for me, that's how we count to three," Snow sang and fed Regina a piece of cookie. "Now here's one more and that makes four . . ."_

_Rumple left them happily counting and munching and the dreamscape shuddered slightly as he released it and was back once more in the astral. _

_He noted Rhea's ward, smoking slightly, and heard the howl of some Soul-Eater as it slunk back into the shadows, having gotten singed trying to get past it._

_Rhea reappeared then, and looked at him. "Done, big brother?"_

_"Mission accomplished. For now."_

_"Good. Mine also. Now let's go back home." She took his hand and then concentrated._

_A moment later they vanished._

**Page~*~*~*~Break**

Back in their bodies again, both magicians yawned and stretched, rubbing their eyes.

"I think we need to call it a night, little sister," Rumple said.

"Yes. I could sleep for a week." She rose and hugged him. "Night, Rumple."

"Good night, Rhea. Sleep tight and don't let the . . ." he began to say his usual rhyme, then abruptly changed it to, " . . . trolls bite."

She smirked at him. "I eat trolls for breakfast, Rumple. Like you do wicked queens."

"Always, dearie," he laughed, then followed her from the room to return downstairs and finish helping Belle, then seek his own bed for the night. Between snow wars and dreamwalks he was exhausted . . . but happy about it.

**A/N: Thanks everyone for voting and you'll see the results of the poll next chapter! Till next time, dearies!**

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Belle's Ham and Cheese Pockets**

1 box of Pillsbury pie crust dough

½ lb deli ham

½ lb American, Cheddar, or Swiss cheese

Honey mustard

1 egg beaten

Unroll pie crust and cut into triangles. Place three to four slices of ham in center of one triangle. Place ½ slice of cheese on top of ham. Put ½ tsp honey mustard on top of that and then place the other half of the triangle of pie crust on. Press edges together and flute. Brush top with egg and cut small slit in center. Put on baking sheet with parchment paper, and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes.

**Artichoke Dip**

2 jars marinated artichoke hearts, chopped and drained

1 c mayo

½ c Parmesan or mozzarella cheese

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Mix ingredients together in casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and serve hot. Great with crackers.


	19. Gift Giving

**19**

**Gift Giving**

**A/N: I forgot to post the recipes for last chapter, but have done so now, so go back and look at them if you want, thanks! Also, let me know how you like my surprise at the end of this chapter!**

The whole family slept late the next morning, since it was another snow day and the roads were still slick and not safe to drive on unless you had an emergency vehicle and needed to be out on the road. Regina, who had gone to sleep early due to her misbehavior, woke up during the night, and decided that she didn't want to sleep alone any more. She went down the hall to Rumple's room and crawled into bed next to him. The sorcerer, always a light sleeper, woke up, saw who it was, and calmly moved over, murmuring, "Go to sleep now, dearie," when the little girl snuggled next to him, putting an arm about her then falling back to sleep.

As a consequence, Rumple was the first one up the next morning, and after making some coffee, decided to cook breakfast, and made a French toast bake, a simple recipe he'd learned from Alice, who often made it after holidays like Christmas and New Years.

After putting it in the oven to bake, he quickly fried up some ham to go along with it. Just as he was finished doing so, he heard Nala meow. He turned to see where the black cat was, and found Regina standing there holding the poor kitten, or trying to, in her arms. The child was too little to hold the cat properly, and had half of her dangling as she hugged Nala around the middle. Nala meowed again, her green eyes pleading for help.

"Hiya, Unca Rumple!" Regina said. "I hold Nala."

"Regina, you're too small to hold Nala," he remonstrated, and gently took his cat from her. Nala immediately curled up around his shoulders like a furry muff, switching her tail at the toddler and glaring at her. Gold stroked the little feline, murmuring, "Easy, baby. She doesn't mean to hurt you."

"I wanna pet her," the child whined.

"How about you help me feed her instead?" Rumple bargained, wanting to keep her away from the disgruntled cat right then.

"Okay. Where her food?"

Rumple told her to go into the pantry and get a can of Fancy Feast and the bag of Seafood Supreme dry food while he washed out the cat's bowls and put fresh water in one. He also cut up a small piece of ham and put it down for Nala as a reward for putting up with Regina.

"I's got it!" the toddler cried, and came toward him dragging the bag of dry food and the can.

Rumple rescued it before it spilled all over, saying, "Thank you for helping, Regina. Now why don't you go sit down?"

After feeding the cat, Rumple returned the items to the pantry and gave his niece some juice to drink from her sippy cup, peering out the window as he did so. It had snowed just about nine inches, as Jess had predicted, and the whole backyard was covered in a pristine white blanket. He looked out his sliding glass doors, holding his mug of coffee, his breath making faint smudges on the glass.

He would deliver the baskets later on that day, after that he would have some free time to spend with his family before preparing to go to the Tessaros Christmas party.

By the time the French toast bake was done, the rest of the family had woken up and come downstairs to eat and the children all helped put the rest of the baskets together and then put them in Rumple's Cadillac so he could deliver them. Since there were so many baskets, Bae had come over with his Escape to help, and Henry and Alina had volunteered to go with him over to those families near the dojo an deliver the baskets. Rumple had Regina, Will, and Jess with him, and took the baskets closer to his shop and the streets beside Main Street.

First Rumple drove over to Dr. Jo's office, since he knew the obstetrician would be there despite the snow because delivering babies took precedence over bad weather, and this wasn't even considered a particularly heavy snowfall for Maine. He found the doctor inside her office, preparing to see a patient, her staff was setting up a room, and he went and handed her the basket, hugging her as he did so.

"Merry Christmas, from my family to yours," Rumple said.

Dr. Jo stared at the basket in her hands. "All this . . . for me?"

"Why not you?" he countered.

Her eyes misty with tears, she hugged him back. "I'll wait till I'm home so I can open this and appreciate it fully. Thanks so much, Rumple, and may you and yours have a merry and blessed Christmas!" She took the basket and put it in her consulting room, on her desk. She could tell the contents were going to bring her much joy and thought again of the kindness of the Gold family.

Rumple left a happy Dr. Jo, then went with the children to deliver the rest of the baskets around the area. It took about fifteen or twenty minutes for them to carry all the baskets to each house and put them on the porch. Will carried a lot of them, since they were heavy with the hams and turkeys and other foodstuffs inside.

Because many of those families were nearby, Gold didn't bother bringing the Cadillac around to every house, but left it parked on the street and walked to the houses, carrying Regina, since the snow was so deep. "Unca Rumple, why don'tcha just give 'em the basket when you brung it to them?" she asked curiously.

"Because they don't need to know who brought them it, just that it's for them," Rumple explained. "The gift is what's important, not who gave it, Regina."

Which was true, but he also didn't want people to reject his gifts believing they would taint them or that they came with strings attached. He knew his reputation as the Dark One still preceded him, and it would take time for those he had harmed while under his curse to realize he had indeed changed and was that beast no more. Anonymous gifts were better for everyone.

The secret Santas were so busy delivering their baskets that they failed to observe that they were being watched and followed, very covertly, during the last three houses they had left something at.

Finally, the last basket had been left upon some rickety porch steps and all of them prepared to go back to the car and go home, when Regina cried, "Oh no! I dropped my hat!"

"Where, imp? I'll go get it," Will said quietly, turning to see where the hat had fallen.

As he did so, seeing the lavender hat on the snow, he happened to glance back at the house they'd just left the basket on, and saw, to his shock, a figure in a black coat snatch the basket off the porch!

"Hey! You put that back, you rotten thief!" Will shouted, and then started to run after the man, for it was a man, or rather a boy, who was bolting away from the house with the basket clutched beneath his arm.

But the deep snow and the heavy basket hampered the thief's flight allowing Will, who was quick and agile, to sprint after him and tackle the thief to the ground. "What the hell's wrong with you?" he growled. "That belongs to that family over there, if you're hungry you could just ask us for something, not take their present!"

"Yeah, like I'd ever ask you for favors, mate!" spat the boy, who was eyeing Will with sharp dislike and sneering at him, as he struggled to get away.

Will gasped as he stared down at his captive, who had half-turned over in his attempts to flee. "Jimmy Hook! I should have known it was you, you damn bilge rat! What are you doing here?"

"I ain't tellin' you nothin', Sparrow!" the slightly older teen snarled. "You can rot in hell!"

"Nope, cause that's where _you're_ going, Jimmy boy," Will informed him. "And by the way . . . I still owe you for that time you nearly gave my sister to your papa's crew of cutthroats, pondslime!"

Then the slender navigator drew back his fist and slammed Hook's son right in the chin, causing the elder boy's head to snap back, bloodying his nose and almost knocking him out.

"Will, lad, what's going on?" Rumple demanded, coming over to see what was happening.

"Uncle Rumple, this rotten thief is Jimmy Hook!" Will stated, his eyes flashing. "He's bad to the bone just like his father, and I ought to beat the ever-loving daylights out of him for what he's done to my family!"

Rumple stared down in shock at the tall lanky boy lying on the snow, with his dark hair cut in a short bob, he had a handsome yet sinister face, with a small goatee, now covered in blood, and deep brown eyes. He was wearing a black coat similar to the one his father wore, and tight breeches, boots, and a crimson shirt with a black snakeskin vest. So this was Milah's son, he thought. And Bae's half-brother.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Rumple demanded of Will.

"I don't know. I asked, but he wouldn't talk," Will said shortly.

Rumple poked him with his boot. "Get up, boy. You're coming with us, and one way or another, you're going to tell me how you got here."

Jimmy opened his eyes and sneered at Rumple. "Go f*&# yourself, old man!"

Will slugged him again. "Don't you disrespect my uncle, you trash-eating bottom feeder!"

This time Jimmy's eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he passed out.

**Rumple's Recipe Corner**

**Gold's French Toast Bake**

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 thick slices French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

**Directions**

Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. Mix eggs, milk, flour, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl with a hand mixer until smooth; add bread cubes and stir until well coated. Pour bread mixture into prepared baking dish. Top evenly with blueberries, pecans, and cream cheese cubes. Cover dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 to 24 hours. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).Bake uncovered in preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.


	20. Black Sheep

**20**

**Black Sheep**

Rumple gestured and the family's gift basket was restored to its proper place on the porch steps. Then he looked at Will and shoved a silk handkerchief at him. "Here. Clean him up. I don't want blood all over my leather seats."

Will scrubbed his enemy's face, none too gently. But Jimmy was out, and did not stir. "What are we going to do with him, Uncle Rumple?" asked Will.

Rumple thought for a moment. "We need to get him into the car. I'll call Emma and let her know what's happened. We'll drop Regina off at the house and bring him to the station so she can put him in her cell for a bit."

"Sounds good to me," Will replied, then he rolled the unconscious Jimmy over his shoulder and hefted him.

As he walked over to where his sister and Regina were, Jess gaped when she saw who he was carrying. "Circe's fins! Is that—"

"Unca Rumple, who's that boy?" Regina demanded.

"He's a rotten thief who tried to steal the Christmas basket from the Farrell's," Rumple replied smoothly.

Regina gasped. "An' are you gonna tell Emma to under arrest him?"

"That's exactly what we're doing," her uncle assured her.

"Then why's he sleepin'?" she asked innocently.

"Uh . . . I hit him a bit too hard when I knocked him on the ground," Will admitted sheepishly.

Jess just snorted. She could read between the lines and knew it was probably because her brother had punched the rotten scum out. But Rumple winked at her and she knew to play it cool because of Regina. "Oh. Well, guess we better get going, huh, Uncle Rumple?"

"Yes. Will, put our . . . guest in the car," Rumple ordered, then he headed back to it.

Jess helped Will put the comatose Jimmy in the backseat, then she rode up front with Rumple and Regina, not wanting to spend any time next to even a comatose Hook.

Will slid into the seat next to Jimmy, but then moved over as far away as possible, giving the other boy a look of extreme distaste. After the things he'd heard and seen Jimmy do, Will thought of him as worse than a leper.

They arrived home and Rumple carried Regina inside and went to speak with Belle and Rhea about their surprise "guest".

Will glanced at Jess and said, scowling, "What do we do with the flotsam here, leave him on the porch?"

His sister shook her head. "While I'd not really mind so much if he almost froze like a block of ice, we need him to tell us how he got here. That's not supposed to be possible . . . unless you have a bean or something." That was how the Sparrows had gotten here, by using one of Jack's precious stash of magical traveling beans.

"Maybe he pissed off a sorcerer and got thrown over here," Will snorted, dragging Jimmy out of the car and grunting as he pulled the still stunned teen over his shoulder. "Gods, he's like a barrel of lead shot."

Jess waved her hand and Will's burden became noticeably lighter. Together, the siblings brought Jimmy into the house, and then Will tied him to one of the kitchen chairs, using several knots he'd learned how to tie to make sails fast. Now, he reflected, they'd make this bilge rat fast.

Jack came and eyed the younger Hook, saying, "This laddie's like his dad in looks, and mayhap like his ma otherwise."

"What we gonna do with him, Unca Jack?" Regina asked curiously.

"Why, little seastar, we're gonna throw him in the brig, with all the bad insubordinate seamen," Jack told her, ruffling her dark hair.

Just then Jimmy began to stir, opening his eyes a moment later to see several familiar and not familiar faces. His eyes narrowed when he saw Jack and he sneered, "Captain Sparrow! My dad sends his greetings . . . and hopes one day he'll see you in hell . . .or down in Davy Jones' locker."

Before Jack could reply, Regina did. "You said a bad word!" she shook her little finger at him. "You's not 'post to say that, else Unca Rumple's gonna wash out you mouth!"

"Who the bloody hell are you?" Jimmy demanded rudely.

"Shut up, Hook, and leave her be!" ordered Will.

"I's Regina," Regina told him, still shaking a finger at him.

"Humph! That's a high-toned name for a guttersnipe like you," Jimmy snorted. "Who's Rumple?"

"My uncle. Rumplestiltskin Gold," answered Will.

Jimmy threw back his head and laughed. "Your uncle . . . the coward, right? I've heard of him!"

Regina glared at him. "Hey! You nasty boy! Don't you call Unca Rumple names! _You're_ under arrested by Emma for bein' bad and stealin' that basket for the Farrells. And she'll put you in jail, so there!"

Jimmy struggled a bit against his bonds, looking like he wanted to make a rude gesture at Regina, but Will had done his job well, and the pirate couldn't move. "Be quiet, kid! Before I take away your doll and gut it, then hang you up to feed the fishes!"

"You ain't doin' _nothin', _nasty boy!" Regina cried, giving him her Royal Awful face. _"_You is all tied up with no place t'go! 'Cept straight to jail!"

"Yeah, you tell him, baby girl!" Jess clapped.

"Regina, go and help Auntie Belle make sandwiches, dearie," Rumple said, having called Emma on his cell and made arrangements to meet her and Bae down at the station.

Regina ran and hugged him. "Unca Rumple, that nasty boy was callin' you names! An' he said I was gonna be fish food."

Rumple knelt and put his hands on her shoulders. "Dearie, that nasty boy's nothing but a lot of hot air. He talks because he thinks people listen. He's full of it. Besides, you know the old saying, dearie. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me . . . unless you let them."

"Typical coward saying!" Jimmy laughed.

Gold cocked his head. "Funny, I thought I just heard an ass braying. Go on, Regina. Go find your aunt."

But before Regina could scamper off, Belle appeared in the doorway. "Regina, sweetie, let's make some sandwiches." Despite her huge middle, she was still quite beautiful.

Jimmy zeroed in on her. Then he whistled loudly. "Wow! Now there's a hot babe. I bet you need a real man to show you a good time, huh?"

Belle looked at him coldly. "You're not one, just so you know. And I've got everything I need and want . . . with my husband." She placed a hand on Gold's shoulder proudly.

"_Him_? Lady, you could do way better!"

"Not in a million years," Belle declared frostily. Then she took Regina by the hand and led her into the other room.

Will made the motion of something crashing and burning. "Rejected!" He grinned at the other boy. "She put you in your place all right, bilge rat!"

"In your dreams, chirpy! My dad kicked your uncle's ass."

Jess rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. I wouldn't boast about how your dad beats up cripples and old women. It's not good form."

"Shut up, wench!" spat Jimmy.

"Just saying," Jess sneered at him. "We won't mention the other time when my uncle kicked your dad's ass to kingdom come."

"And his mama's too," Will added. "Matter of fact I think my family has kicked your family's ass so much you've got permanent boot prints on your backsides."

"Up yours, Sparrow!" Jimmy looked like he wanted to burst through his bonds and attack Will.

"Sorry, don't go that way, old boy," Will snickered. "Baby raping's not really my style, Hooky."

"You mother—" Jimmy began, only to find his mouth filled with soap. "Ack!" he coughed and grimaced.

"We don't use that kind of language around this house," Gold said coldly, pointing at the young pirate. "Not when there's a baby present."

Jimmy continued to sputter soap bubbles for nearly a minute before Rumple gestured and they vanished. The eighteen-year-old gasped. "You . . . how . . . dare . . ."

Rumple just gave him a sizzling glare, then said, "Time for us to leave." He gestured, and all the knots except for those binding his hands and feet undid themselves.

Jack hauled Jimmy to his feet. "Let's go, nasty boy. Time for you and the brig to get reacquainted."

"You're no true pirate, Captain Sparrow!" Jimmy growled. "Otherwise you'd offer me a duel of honor in exchange for my freedom."

Jack looked down his nose. "I could . . . but what's the sense? You have no honor to start with and I don't have time to waste dueling silly little boys. Now on your feet!" He yanked Jimmy up, propelling him out the door by the back of his tunic. "Rhea! You coming?"

"No, Jack. I'm going to do a bit of scouting. Make sure no one else is here," his wife called back. "But tell me if you find anything out that's interesting."

"Aye, love," Jack said, then shoved the reluctant Hook out the door. Rumple and Will followed. Jess opted to stay behind with Belle, Regina, and her mother.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_Storybrooke police station:_

By the time Gold and company got there, Emma and Bae were at the station, along with Henry and Alina, who had been with Bae delivering baskets. All four Golds eyed Jimmy icily.

Jack dragged the younger man into the room, saying, "Sheriff Gold, where shall I put this lubber?"

Emma came and looked him over. She'd seen kids like him before—mean, cruel, little creeps who lived to hurt and humiliate others. Take away his clothes and put him in a hoodie and a pair of ripped jeans and give him a gun or a tire iron and he could be any one of thousands of gang members on the East End of Boston, robbing, looting, and dealing.

"We can stick him in a cell, Jack, but first let me put some cuffs on him," she said, and promptly went and got a set of her maglocks. She untied Jimmy's hands and then cuffed him with the silvery bracelets.

As she did so, Bae walked up and examined the youth, thinking that there wasn't too much of a resemblance between them, except maybe around the eyes and a little bit of the mouth. "So . . . you're Milah's other son," he drawled.

Jimmy looked up at him. "Who's asking?"

"My name's Baelfire Gold," Bae answered evenly.

"The coward's son."

"Your half-brother," interjected Rumple coldly.

"Unfortunately," Bae said shortly.

"Yeah, well it's not like I want to claim you either, mate," Jimmy sneered.

"You can pretend he doesn't exist while you're sitting inside my jail cell," Emma said, going to put him inside of it.

Jimmy gave her a lascivious look and purred, "Hey, babe, you're like hotness walking and talking. I gotta get me some of that."

"In your dreams!" Emma growled, and shoved him inside, hard enough to knock him to his knees.

But Jimmy twisted like a cat and caught himself on the edge of the metal bunk, managing to turn what should have been a humiliating fall into a rather graceful sitting position. "Anytime, babe. I can do it all."

Bae gave him a disgusted look. "Like my wife said, only in your dreams, kid."

"That's your _wife_? What'd you do, kidnap her?" Jimmy guffawed.

"Now why would he need to do that?" Gold queried. "Only pirates need to resort to that crude behavior," he left no doubt as to who he was referring to.

"Coward! You couldn't even keep your own wife!" Jimmy taunted.

"That's because his wife was a faithless scarlet woman!" Henry shot back.

"And a lying tramp too!" Alina added.

"You calling my mama a ho?" Jimmy snarled.

"You said it," Henry snorted.

"Okay, kids. That's enough," Rumple ordered. "Go and get some soda or something." He handed them some change and herded them out of the main office and towards the vending machines. If things were going to get ugly, he didn't want his children to witness it.

Behind him, Jimmy sneered, "Yeah, coward, nursemaid the kiddies, since that's all you're good for."

Rumple shut the door behind him, locking it, and then came to stand before the young pirate. "I'm only going to say this once. Watch your mouth." He would have said more, but just then his cell began to ring.

As he turned away to get it, Emma said, "We have a few questions for you, kid. Starting with how you came here."

"I've got a question for you too, sweet wench," Jimmy leered. "What way do you like it best?"

"Please!" Emma rolled her eyes. "The only way I'd do anything like what you'd describe, kid, is if I were a corpse."

"That's only 'cause you ain't never been with a real man, sugar," Jimmy boasted. He pressed up against the bars and made some rather suggestive motions through the bars.

"Bae, you got a bucket?" Emma asked. "Because I think I need one to puke in."

"Coming right up," Bae chuckled wickedly.

Jimmy flushed. Then he spat, "I bet I can do more with a woman with one hand than you can do with your whole Jolly Roger, Baelfire! How much could you have learnt from that coward over there?" He began to describe several things he'd done with various women, becoming boastful and graphic, preening like a peacock.

Bae rolled his eyes. "You know, talk is cheap, little brother. Word to the wise. My papa was never a coward, but he _is_ a sorcerer, and even though he's not the Dark One, that doesn't mean he can't kick your ass. So watch what you say, little brother, or else you'll regret it."

Jimmy gave him a finger. "That for your advice . . . big brother!"

Bae shrugged. "Your funeral, boy."

Emma returned to her original line of questioning. "So . . . how did you get here?"

"I'll answer any question you want, babe . . . long as I get to steal a few kisses. Among other things. I know you want me. All the girls want a Hook in their bed."

Gold hung up his cell, it had been Rhea, asking if they had found anything out yet. He turned back to where Jimmy was and heard his last comment. "Emma, is this creep bothering you?"

"Boring me, is more like it," Emma said, yawning.

"You're only bored, sugar, because you got my coward brother and his limp staff to pleasure you—"

Gold looked at him, his eyes going hard and cold. "I seem to remember telling you to watch your mouth, boy."

"I don't take orders from no pansy-ass coward!"

"And I'm through giving them, Mr. Hook," Gold replied softly, his voice laced with deadly intent. "Since reason has no impact upon your behavior, perhaps this will."

He made a single sharp gesture.

Jimmy went to open his mouth . . . only to find that he couldn't.

Because his mouth was gone. His hand groped over his face, trying to feel his lips, only to find his fingers encountering smooth skin where they had been. It was as if they had never existed. Strangled whimpering sounds came from him, barely audible. His eyes bulged and he reached out through the bars with his hands, pleading.

Gold just turned away. "Ah, silence. It's a blessing, don't you agree, Jack?"

"Aye. 'Specially when the one flapping his jaw has so little to say," agreed his brother-in-law.

Emma stared at Rumple and then at Jimmy, suppressing a shudder as she did so. It was unnerving to look at the cocky boy as he was now, even though she understood why Rumple had done what he had. She had always known Rumple was not one to cross, not when it came to his family, but it still came as a shock to see him do something so . . . coldblooded.

"Rumple . . . you're not going to . . . leave him like that?"

"Oh, it's not forever, dearie. Just long enough for him to learn a lesson," Gold replied calmly.

"Emma, that's better than what I'd have removed on him," Jack said wolfishly, then he gave Jimmy a sly smirk and caressed his long knife.

"Me too," Will added darkly. "I'd have made him and his daddy match—opposite hooks for hands."

Jimmy continued clawing at his now mouthless face and looking like he was going to have a nervous breakdown.

"You should have listened to Bae, kid. Being stupid always comes with a price," she said. She bent and whispered in Gold's ear, "How long are you going to leave him like that?"

"No more than an hour. By then he'll be quite willing to tell us what we want to know," answered her father-in-law.

"Hell, Gold, am I glad you're on our side," Emma muttered, then said, "I'm going to get something to drink and check on the kids."

"Have a ball, dearie," Gold called after her. Then he looked at Jack. "How would you like to go and get a drink? There's a bar called The Rabbit Hole a few doors down."

"They got rum?" queried Jack.

"Sparrow, they've got Johnny Walker Blue Label," Rumple told him.

"Don't know that one, mate."

"Come on, I'll buy you some," Gold offered. "Bae, you want to come?"

"Sure, Papa. I could go for a beer," his son said, then went to tell Emma where they were going.

"Rumple's drinking?" she gasped.

"Probably not. But he's buying Jack some Johnny Walker Blue Label," Bae chuckled.

Emma whistled. "Someday, Gold, I'm going to go out just him and me, and get me some of that."

"Next time, wild swan," Bae said, then he kissed her leisurely before going out the door.

"Man, that is going to be one happy Captain Jack," Emma muttered to herself, then she started laughing, realizing what she'd just said. Then she went back and sat at her desk and began to play Candy Crush on her phone while in the other room, Alina and Henry played Words With Friends on their Nook HD's.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

_An hour later:_

Jack was a little tipsy after drinking five glasses of Jonny Walker Blue, and he put an arm about Rumple and another about Bae as they walked back to the station. "Y'know, mate, that stuff's better n' rum. And I never thought I'd say that!"

"It's Scotch whiskey, Jack, of course it's better than rum," Rumple purred, his voice taking on the faint tinge of his old country accent.

"I just hope you still like it after Aunt Rhea finds out what you've been up to," Bae grinned.

"Aww, now, Bae! Your aunt is . . . she'll . . . unnerstand . . ." Jack protested, walking slightly crooked.

"I doubt it, but I can sober him up a bit before we get home," Rumple said to Bae.

"You can? But you couldn't do that before when you got hammered," Bae objected, staring at his father.

"That was because I didn't have any motivation to invent something," Rumple said, smirking. "But I have a little something that will sober him up enough so Rhea won't skin him."

They reached the station and deposited Jack gently in the waiting room.

"Now, let's see our problem child," Rumple said, and went into Emma's office.

As soon as Jimmy saw Rumple, he began making gestures and holding his hands out pathetically, silently pleading for release.

"You going to behave?" Rumple queried, sounding just like a stern father.

Jimmy nodded frantically.

"If not, I'll remove it permanently." Rumple threatened. Then he waved a hand and restored Jimmy's mouth to him.

The youth fell to his knees, his hands over his mouth, sniveling. "Gods! Gods! I'll talk! I'll tell you whatever you want! I swear by all the gods! Just don't . . . don't do that again, please, Dark One!"

"Don't call me that," Rumple interjected. "I'm Mr. Gold to you." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Now . . . tell me how you got here. What did you use? A bean? A portal?"

"No. My dad hired a sorceress . . . she said she was once a queen . . . and she . . . she made a potion from some kind of ashes of a wardrobe that she said was a dimensional portal . . . and she gave me some to use, a few drops, and I threw them in the ocean and a portal opened to here."

"Storybrooke," Gold said. "Where are they now, your father and this sorceress?"

"Back in our other realm still. They were going to come through when I . . . when I . . ." he stammered, going pale.

"Go on. When you what?"

"After I . . . scouted out where you were," Jimmy blurted, his eyes wide in fear. "My dad . . . he . . . wants to . . . kill you . . ."

"Really, dearie?"

"Yeah. He says you ought to die for humiliating him and . . . and hurting my ma like you did," Jimmy babbled. "So he sent me to . . . to see what I could find out . . ."

"And once you contacted him, what then?" Rumple probed.

"Then . . . the sorceress was gonna use the rest of that potion so's she and my dad and her army could come through."

"Army?"

"Yeah. She . . . she has this cauldron or something, some magic shit, and she can use it to reanimate the dead," Jimmy told him.

"What? I thought you couldn't do that, Papa?" Bae gasped.

"You shouldn't do it. It's forbidden," Rumple replied. "But it can be done . . . if you don't care about the price it requires."

"What's that?" Emma asked.

"Your immortal soul," Rumple answered darkly. He gazed at Jimmy again. "Well, little canary . . . have you any more songs to sing?"

"I've . . . I've told you everything, Mr. Gold!"

"What's her name, this sorceress you're working with?"

"Her name's Cora. Cora Miller."

"Jesus H. Christ!" Bae snarled.

Jimmy cringed. "What'd I say? I'm sorry!"

"Her name," Emma answered, feeling her heart grow cold. Then she wondered how much time they had before Cora and Hook tried to get to Storybrooke.

**A/N: Hope you liked this and thanks to cynicsquest for the idea of taking Jimmy's mouth away.**


	21. Buon Natale

**21**

**Buon Natale**

After Jimmy's confession, Rumple contacted Rhea and told her what the young pirate had said, and his sister had replied that she had tangled with this sorceress before, the last time had been when she had returned with Jack to the Pearl and stopped a humungous storm from capsizing their vessel. "She's good, Rumple, but I've faced deadlier than her, my old mistress being an example. Besides, forewarned is forearmed. We can set up a nice welcome for her and her zombie army and Hook too. But even better, we can stall for time."

"How do we do that?" Rumple asked, using his communication crystal to speak with his sister.

"We send a note back written by young Jimmy there, telling them to wait till further notice while he figures out our weaknesses," Rhea answered.

"And Jimmy, of course, will write it."

"Of course, old dragon. You can persuade him to . . . and if not, I can," she replied.

"No need. I'm sure he'll see reason when I point out that if he wants to talk ever again, he'd better do as we ask," Rumple said with an evil smirk.

"And I'll help you set up some protections and so forth around Storybrooke . . . after this party Belle tells me we're going to attend tonight."

"That's right! The Christmas party!" Rumple exclaimed. "I'd nearly forgotten about it. I'd better remind Snow and David, and get Regina home for them to get her ready. After I talk with Mr. Hooked-On-Himself again."

"Have fun, Rumple! I'll see you later," Rhea said, then the crystal went dark.

Rumple tucked the crystal away in his pocket, then went and summoned a piece of paper and a red quill with refillable ink. Holding the pen and paper in one hand, he returned to where Jimmy was being held, to tell the young pirate the new terms he would be cooperating under.

After Jimmy had heard what Rumple wished, and was told in no uncertain terms what his fate would be if he refused to write the missive and tried to betray them, the pirate thought better of his first impulse, and wrote what Rumple wished, telling his father and Cora to wait until he told them the right time to strike, signing it with his name, then putting it in a magical message bottle given to him by the Queen of Hearts.

"She said to just throw this in a body of water and it would get to them," Jimmy said sullenly.

Rumple took the bottle and handed it to his son. "Bae, go and drop this in the harbor, since it's on your way home. You can meet us back at my house for the party."

"Will do, Papa," Bae said, and took the bottle.

"What do we do about tall, dark, and dastardly over there?" Emma said.

"Well, I suppose we ought to feed him and give him some reading material," Rumple sighed.

"The only material he likes to read are posters with half-naked tavern wenches on 'em," Will snorted.

"Don't have Playboy here," Emma said. "But here's some Nascar and tabloids." She picked up some magazines floating about in the waiting room and shoved them through the bars of Hook's cell. "Here. Something to amuse yourself with while you're counting the ceiling tiles." She unlocked the maglocks on him and took the cuffs with her after shutting the cell door.

She ordered a club sandwich and fries from Granny's, along with a Coke, and fed her prisoner while Bae and Henry waited for her to lock up, and Gold took the Sparrows home to get ready for the Tessaro's gala.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

Rhea eyed Jack suspiciously when he came in the door of Gold's Victorian, moving with a slightly rolling gate. "Jack! Have you been . . . _drinking_?"

Her husband gave her a slightly guilty grin. "Why, Rhea, love, I've only had a nip or two. I needed some . . . fortification after dealing with that little wharf rat."

"He only had a little, Rhea," Rumple defended his brother-in-law, thanking God his sober-up potion had worked.

His sister rolled her eyes. "The two of you are in cahoots! I should have known. C'mon, Sparrow, time to get into your good clothes and meet Rumple's friends. You can get plastered all over again at this party . . . but any hangover you get you deal with tomorrow morning, Captain."

"Course, love," her pirate chuckled, and went to go upstairs and change.

Belle appeared with Regina in tow, and the toddler announced loudly, "Unca Rumple, guess what?"

Rumple knelt and asked, "What, little imp?"

"We won!"

"What did we win?"

"The snow war!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

He chuckled. "That's good." Truth be told, with all the excitement over Jimmy, he had almost forgotten about his little contest with Rhea. "Okay, now I think I need to get you home so your mommy can get you ready for the Christmas party."

"Yay! We's gonna go to New York, right? An' I'm gonna see Stefan an' Angel again, right?" she clapped her hands eagerly.

"That's right. Now go get your jacket on and we can leave," he urged her.

She bolted for the closet and returned dragging her pink coat and her gloves and hat, which she had removed after coming back to the house.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

By four thirty, everyone was gathered at Gold's house, dressed in their Christmas best. Rumple had on his signature charcoal gray Armani three-piece suit and red and green striped Christmas Ferragamo, with his Gucci loafers, matching red silk shirt, his hair neatly combed. His diamond stud cufflinks winked on his shirt sleeves, fully charged with magical energy, just in case.

Beside him, Belle was resplendent in a very pretty winter knit pantsuit, consisting of gold colored pants and a flowing tunic top of gold with blue snowflakes on it and a pretty scalloped neckline. She wore lovely diamond snowflakes in her ears, a gift from Rumple, and a matching pendant on a gold chain. Her swollen feet were delicately cradled in the softest Merino sheepkin half-boots, designed cunningly so no one glancing at her feet would know they were really slippers. She had a soft blue shawl around her that Rumple had knitted for her embellished with blue rosettes.

Alina had on a very nice Donna Karin champagne colored dress with a silken peach rose print. It had three-quarter length sleeves and delicate lace ruching across the bodice. She was wearing lacy stockings and her soft leather Louie Vutton black pumps. Her hair was caught by two topaz hair combs, and she had pretty ivory rose earrings in her ears and a pendant of a rose done in tricolor gold. She had on a pink suede pea coat.

When Rumple looked at her, he wondered where the harum-scarum little girl he used to chase all over had gone and when this beautiful poised young lady had taken her place. His little girl was growing up, he thought, then he prayed she wouldn't start going out on dates soon, and put his sanity at risk. _She's eleven, Rumple. You've got a few more years, _he reminded himself.

Rhea came downstairs escorted by Jack, looking elegant in a beautiful midnight-blue velvet gown with glittering "diamonds" sprinkled across the bodice and frost wolf fur edging the top of the gown. An aurora borealis star brooch graced the bodice, which contained her magic in it, and matching earrings hung on her ears. She had one delicate white gloves that went up to her elbows and shimmering sapphire shoes. Her hair was piled up on her head and secured with a sparkling silver and crystal hairnet. On her left hand was her wedding ring.

Jack was resplendent in the pirate's version of a naval uniform, with a blue cut away coat in velvet with tails, with gold epaulets and gold buttons, a white ruffled shirt, skin tight black breeches and mirror-bright black leather shoes with gold buckles. His gold earring glinted in his ear and his hair was drawn back in a tail, and a black felt tricorn was perched upon his head. Around a pouch at his waist were his magic beans and his spyglass. Tucked in his boot was his emergency dagger . . . because no self-respecting buccaneer ever went anywhere unarmed.

They were followed by Will, who was dressed similarly to his father, though the rank on his coat was that of a mere ensign, and Jess, who wore a beautiful green watered silk gown with a spinning wheel pendant in gold around her neck (her talisman that stored her power) and lovely gold slippers. Her gown had a beautiful gold wire belt and on it were rubies, amethysts, and citrines. She wore a square cut emerald ring on her finger, a gift from Jack when she turned sixteen two years ago. Her hair was partially caught up in some jade barrettes shaped like dragons, which she had gotten on a visit to Mulan's kingdom with her parents last summer.

Rumple whistled appreciatively. "You all look fantastic! Jess, am I going to have to turn some poor fellow into a frog for getting too frisky with you?"

His niece laughed. "I can do that myself, Uncle Rumple!"

"And if she doesn't, I'll turn him into a rug," her mother said.

"Then she'll give me a paddle so I can beat some manners into his hide," Jack chuckled.

"And I can stomp all over him," Will added, smirking.

Jess rolled her eyes. "With my dad and brother the way they are, it's a miracle if I can even get a guy to say hello, much less dance with me."

"Well, I doubt you'll have that problem with the Tessaros," Rumple mused. "If I remember correctly, Nonna has a grandson close to your age . . . or Will's age, I can't remember which."

Just then the doorbell rang and Emma, Henry, and Bae came in, also dressed to the nines. Bae had on a black Armani suit with a red tie and a silvery gray dress shirt, which matched Emma's elegant red dress, a silky number with spaghetti straps and stilettos in matching red leather. Her hair was left to flow down her shoulders in golden waves and she wore her silver swan pendant and a pair of swan wing earrings Bae had gotten her for an early Christmas gift.

Henry had on his good black slacks and a green button down shirt and a red tie with a black blazer. He looked very neat and had his hair combed back. He eyed Alina and said, "Hey. You look cute in that dress."

Alina blushed and said, "And you clean up pretty good too, Henry. I can't wait to see what Regina's wearing!"

Right on cue, the door banged open and Regina ran into the house, yelling her signature greeting, "Unca Rumple! I's ba-a-ack!"

"Already? I just sent you home," he chuckled, smiling down at her. "You look lovely, dearie. Like a little princess."

Regina had on a fancy coat, of white faux fur, and underneath she wore a beautiful red velvet dress with a lacy collar and three ruffled tiers on the skirt. She had on lacy white stockings and ruffled panties and little sparkly ruby shoes with red bows on them. Her hair was caught back from her face with a little tiara-like glittering silver headband, and she had a tiny red velvet purse as well.

"Auntie Belle! Auntie Rhea! Emma! Lookit!" she ordered imperiously, and then she performed a very good curtsey.

"Aww, you're so cute, kid!" her big sister laughed.

"You did a great job!" Belle clapped and so did Rhea.

"You're much better than I was the first time I tried to curtsey, at my coming out ball when I was sixteen," Jess recalled.

"Yeah, she fell right on her behind and her dress flipped up cause it was one of those hoop skirt things," Will snickered.

"Shut up, Will!" his sister glared at him and elbowed him in the ribs. "We won't mention what happened at _your_ coming of age party, when you tripped and nearly went over the side of the Pearl because you drank one too many toasts!"

"That coil of rope was planted there!" he objected, flushing. "And at least I wasn't bawling that my life was over!"

"William! Jessalyn! Knock it off! Rhea snapped, and went and smacked her offspring on the back of the head.

"Oww! Mom, my hair!" Jess cried.

"Mom, my head!" Will yelped, rubbing it. Then he frowned at Bae, who was smirking. "What's so funny, Bae?"

"Your mama. She reminds me of my papa, who used to whack the back of my head when I was a teenager too," Bae said, his eyes twinkling.

"Don't let him get to you, Will," Emma said. "Because Rumple _still_ does that to him when he gets out of line," she reported gleefully.

"Thanks a lot, Emma!" Bae said indignantly while the younger Sparrows and Golds giggled.

"What'd I miss?" asked David, coming in carrying a large poinsettia. He was dressed in a very nice gray suit with a green shirt and a rather goofy looking reindeer tie, which Regina had insisted he wear.

Snow followed right behind him in a gorgeous frost and icicle blue princess cut dress that fell to her calves, the bodice was delicately piped with glittering frosty fabric and her hair bore a white satin hair bow with soft white swan feathers and pearls on it. She wore simple crystal and pearl drops in her ears and an eternity knot diamond pendant around her slender neck, and her shoes were nearly transparent with tiny feathers on the front of them.

"Snow, you look gorgeous!" exclaimed Belle. "I love those shoes!"

"Thanks! These are the original glass slippers," she smiled, extending her foot.

"Mommy borrowed them from Ashley," Regina told Belle.

"You can't keep secrets around a three-year-old," Snow admitted ruefully, and they all laughed.

"Okay, are we all set?" Rumple asked, holding a velvet covered wine bottle in one arm.

When he received everyone's affirmative, he said, "Okay, dearies. I'm going to open the portal now and you're going to go through one at a time, I'll come last to shut it with Regina." He pulled the invitation from his pocket and threw it down in the doorway of the living room and cried, "Buon Natale Strega Nona!"

The doorway shifted and shimmered, running with rivulets of rainbowed light, and then it cleared and you could see a large room with hardwood floors and swags of Christmas greenery across the walls.

Belle turned and walked through the portal, followed by Alina, Henry, the Sparrows, the Charmings, Emma, and Bae. Rumple, as planned went last holding Regina, so he could shut the portal afterwards.

As he stepped from his house in Storybrooke to Nona's restaurant in Little Italy, he was met by the matriarch herself, wearing a beautifully woven white and red dress with seven flounces and a silk shawl with holly embroidered all over it with pointy black shoes just like a witch's.

"Buon Natale, _cara_!" she cried, and went and hugged and kissed Rumple on both cheeks, Italian style.

"Merry Christmas to you too, dearie!" Rumple returned her hug.

"And look at the _belissima bambina_!" Nona said, and kissed Regina as well, pinching her lightly on the cheek. "A pinch to grow an inch!"

Regina giggled. "Hiya, Nona! Where's Stefan?"

"Oh, he's here somewhere, Regina. Why don't you go and find him and wish him _Buon Natale_, eh, _cara_?" she chuckled.

Rumple set her down. "Go on, imp!" he said, and sent her off with a gentle tap on the behind.

As Regina scurried off looking for her object of affection, Rumple handed Nona the bottle of wine he'd brought. "This is just a little gift from my family to yours. It's a bottle of one hundred and fifty year old red Enchantment wine, grown in my own vineyards back in the Enchanted Forest. Preserved with magic, of course."

"Ah, you are too kind! We'll have some during dinner!" Nona said, her eyes sparkling. "Welcome to our annual Christmas party, _cara._ And might I say you look _belissimo_ in your Armani, Rumple!" Then she winked and pinched his behind.

Rumple arched an eyebrow at her. "Dearie, I'm married!"

Nona giggled like a wicked schoolgirl. "Sorry, couldn't resist! You're as handsome as sin, and I want a dance with you later on, Rumple. House rules."

"Gladly," he grinned and continued on into the room.

As he did so, he nearly ran into a handsome man dressed in a Versace suit with a holly tie tack pin, dark haired and eyed, who looked at Nona and shook his head. "_Mama Mia, Mama!_ Still flirting with men at your age!"

"Oh, be quiet, Joe!" Nona cackled. "At four hundred you learn to count your blessings . . . and take your pleasures today for you never know if you'll live to see tomorrow. Rumple, meet my son, Joe Tessaro. He handles the finances."

Rumple shook hands with the younger man, who was around forty-seven, and said, "A financial wizard?"

Joe smiled. "Yes . . . and that's all I am. No magic. Welcome to our party, Mr. Gold."

Rumple looked around and saw that the restaurant had been transformed with lovely red drapes across the windows and swags of greenery with Christmas red bows tied around them along with tinkling brass bells. The tables had all been arranged on one side of the room and covered with decorative table cloths with mistletoe patterns and each table had a lovely centerpiece of evergreen with fat red candle and a frosted hurricane shade over it. Fine bone china was at each table, and each plate bore a Christmas theme, like a bell, a sleigh, a snowman, Santa, and so on. Crystal water glasses and wine goblets graced each place, and gold-plated flatware was next to them. Each setting had a Lennox reindeer napkin ring with a beautiful monogrammed cloth napkin in it.

"Your work, Nona?" Rumple queried.

"Of course. And you can find your place by seeing your initials on it," she said, indicating how each napkin had a person's initials on it, with Rumple's bearing an R and G. "They are yours to keep, Rumple. As are the centerpieces—one for each of your households."

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

Nona waved a hand. "Those are mere trifles, _cara_. The real gifts come later, after dinner."

On the other side of the room were several long tables, filled with appetizers, platters and platters of food. There was antipasti of all kinds, freshly baked rolls, fried calamari, white pizza dip, arrancini (Italian rice balls), zeppoli, baccala (cod) dipped in batter and fried, sausage bread, pepperoni bread, and mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce. Small plates and forks were set out before the table, and Nona gestured to them and said, "_Mangia, _Rumple! Some of this we cook only at Christmastime, like the baccala and arrancini."

"Heavens! Nona, if I eat all of this I'll be like a barrel," he gasped.

"Nonsense! You'll burn half of it off dancing the tarantella!" she giggled.

"I . . . never learned that one," he admitted softly.

"Ah, it's easy! I'll teach you!" she snapped her fingers and a glass of white wine appeared in her hand. "Here. Taste this, my own white pino grigio."

He drank some and said, "That's very good."

"_Si! Si!_ Now . . . let's start the music!" she clapped her hands and music began to play, starting with the old Buon Natale by Nat King Cole.

Then she trotted off to see to the rest of her guests, leaving Rumple to say hello to the rest of the Tessaros and mingle with them and with his family, introducing his sister, Jack, and the Sparrow children to the Tessaros before going to the buffet to get something to eat along with Belle and Snow.

Everyone was very happy to see the Golds again, and the food was fantastic. Belle bit into a rice ball, which was white rice mixed with mozzarella, prosciutto, and spices rolled in bread crumbs and fried to a golden brown, and said, "Rumple, I _have_ to get this recipe! These are . . . the most amazing things I've ever tasted."

"You can ask Maria," he said, eating his own. "My God! They really are. I could eat the entire tray of them."

He liked the baccala too, finding it crispy and salty and not at all greasy or fishy. The zeppoli melted on his tongue, though Maria came by and told him there were two kinds-one sweet, which were the traditional ones, with powdered sugar sprinkled on them, and one savory, which had alige (anchovies) in the middle of them. Both were delicious.

Across the room was the kids' table, where the younger Tessaros, Golds, and Sparrows were sitting, eating the appetizers and telling jokes and drinking pitchers of iced tea, soda, and a very mildly alcoholic fruity sangria made especially for them.

Angel was telling Henry and Alina about a Yankees game she had gone to see with her older cousins, she was wearing an adorable emerald green sweater and black pants, her sweater had a snow scene on it that "snowed" and she said it was woven for her by Nona.

Stefan was eating some sausage bread and drinking a cup of soda while listening to Regina chatter to him about the snow war she had participated in, then giggling when she told him about her Unca Rumple and Auntie Rhea having a contest of their own.

Regina was eating zeppoli, and getting powder sugar everywhere, but no one cared.

Luca and Teresa were talking to Jess and Will, fascinated at how they came from another realm and grew up on the sea . . . on a real pirate ship, no less!

Luca kept gulping down sangria while eyeing Jess and blushing, while Teresa did the same with Will, smiling shyly behind her napkin.

About forty-five minutes after the appetizers came out, Nona rang a bell and everyone sat down in their assigned places, and she opened the bottle of wine Rumple had given her and quietly poured some in her glass . . . and by magical spell also in the glasses of everyone else as well, even the children.

"To _mi famiglia_ and our good _paisans_ the Golds! Buon Natale and happy new year and may you all be blessed and happy in the days to come. _Salute!_" she then clinked glasses with Rumple, who was seated on her left, and drank the wine, which had a sweet yet robust flavor and sparkled faintly in the glass.

After the toast, she tapped the side of her plate and said, "_Mangia_, caras!"

Food appeared upon all the tables in astonishing quantity and variety.

There was cheese manicotti, a glazed brown sugar ham, flounder Sorrentino, sausage and peppers in a red sauce, Manhattan clam chowder, shrimp scampi over linguini, asparagus in a butter and breadcrumb sauce, Italian green bean salad, scungilli fra diavolo, and chicken in a garlic white wine butter sauce that Emma swore was to die for.

"Bae, get this recipe," she begged her husband. "I want to eat it on Christmas Day."

"Okay, wild swan. I'll ask Nona," he agreed. "Have you tried the manicotti? It's so good!"

"Not yet, but I will. And then I'll have to cast some spells when we get home so I don't gain twenty pounds. Aww, crap! I can't . . . because I'm pregnant . . . and pregnant women lose their magic until the baby's born," Emma groaned.

"Em, relax! It's the holidays, so just . . . enjoy yourself," Bae told her, then had another helping of manicotti.

**Page~*~*~*~*~Break**

By the time dinner was over, everyone was feeling stuffed and sort of drowsy, as sometimes happens after a big holiday dinner. It was then that Nona handed out gifts to each of the Gold families, starting with her hand-woven blanket for Rumple and Belle. They had a beautiful gold mohair with a blue rose pattern on it, and woven into the fabric were runes for peace, harmony, and warmth.

"This is beautiful, Nona!" Belle exclaimed. "You made this, right?"

"I did, _cara_. It was woven with love and magic, like all my pieces," she smiled at the younger woman.

For Emma and Bae, the newlyweds and expectant parents, was a white blanket (for purity and innocence) with golden swans flying and interlocking rings of blue and pink, with charms for prosperity, happiness, and protection woven into it.

Emma teared up when she opened it, then muttered something about, "Those damn hormones," and Bae just handed her a napkin.

For the Charmings there was a soft cream colored blanket with compass roses all over it and charms woven into it for protection, strength of heart, and serenity.

"Wow!" David said upon opening it. "This is like the softest blanket I've ever owned."

"It's amazing!" Snow cried. "I love it!"

For Rhea there was a shawl of lovely icy blue and lavender mohair, with the ancient runes for warmth and healing stitched into it. Jack and Will had scarves that would keep them warm throughout the deepest chill, Jack in crimson and Will in navigator blue. For Jess there was a hat in a raspberry color with runes stitched in the brim for warmth and protection.

"A raspberry beret!" she cried, hugging it.

"Like the song," Luca chuckled.

"What song?" she asked, puzzled.

"That's right, you wouldn't know it," he said. "But . . . maybe I could sing it for you."

"You ought to feel honored," Maria said. "My brother only sings for family."

Luca blushed, though Jess looked very interested.

Suddenly, the invisible DJ began to play Dominick the Donkey, sung by Lou Monte, and the Tessaro children began to clap and sing along.

Regina giggled and clapped too, even though she didn't know the song, she got into the spirit of things because Angel and Stefan were doing so.

Then as the song ended, real bells were heard jingling, and a donkey's bray sounded outside the door.

"What's that?" Regina cried excitedly.

"Just wait!" Stefan said, grinning from ear to ear. "You'll see!"

There came a knock at the door, and Nona gestured and the door swung wide . . . to admit Santa leading a little gray donkey with a pack full of presents on his back.

Regina gasped, her little mouth opened in shock.

"It's Dominick the donkey!" squealed the Tessaro kids. Then they ran forward to pet and hug the little donkey.

"C'mon, Regina!" Stefan said, and led the little girl by the hand over to him.

Santa laughed a great big belly laugh then cried, "Buon Natale!"

And Dominick brayed happily, and bent his head so the kids could pet him.

Once all the children had stroked the donkey's velvet soft nose, Santa turned and opened his pack, saying, "And here's something for all my little paisans who have been behaving this year!" He pulled out a baseball mitt and called out, "Angel Tessaro!"

"Here!" Angel cried, and she skipped up to receive her gift, which was a signed catcher's mitt from all the current Yankees. "Awesome!"

Next Santa had a present for "Alina Gold!" and he gave her a stunning blue Murano glass unicorn that ran about on her palm before becoming still.

Then there was one for, "Henry Gold!" and he received a book of Italian fairy tales, whose pictures moved when they were read.

Santa called Stefan, and gave him a pendant that would protect him against the four elements, shaped like a seven pointed star.

Finally, the jolly old elf turned and said, "Is there a Regina Nolan in the house?"

"Me! Me! I's here, Santa!" the toddler squealed, jumping up and down in front of Dominick.

"Oh, there you are!" Santa chuckled, his belly shaking. "Have you been good?"

"I twied very hard," she told him earnestly.

He winked at her and said, "That's what Noel tells me. And here's an early Christmas gift for you, child." And he pulled out a boy ragdoll dressed in traditional Italian clothing. "This is Louie, he's lonely for a friend, and I think your Sofia would like to be one."

"Yes! Now I's got a boy doll an' they can get married!" Regina shrilled. She hugged the doll close and then hugged Santa, saying, "Thank you!"

"Buon Natale!" Santa called, then he clucked to Dominick and they turned and went back out into the night, vanishing without a trace a moment later.

Regina turned, hugging her new doll, and ran over to where Snow and David were seated. "Mommy! Daddy! Lookit what Santa brung me! A new doll!"

"He's sweet, Regina," said Snow, examining him.

"His name's Louie, an' I petted Dominick, the Italian donkey," she prattled.

"Was he nice?" asked David.

"Uh huh. He licked me!" his daughter giggled. Then she took Louie and ran over to where Rumple was sitting and crawled on his lap. "Unca Rumple! See the new doll Santa brung me!"

"Very nice, dearie!" Rumple said, noting how fine the stitching was upon the doll and the clothing.

"An' Santa knew what Noel told him," she said seriously to her uncle.

"Of course he did. After all, Noel's his scout elf," Rumple said to her.

"Yup!" Then she climbed down and ran to show Emma and Bae also.

Once the excitement had died down from Santa and Dominick's visit, the Tessaros served dessert and coffee. There was homemade New York cheesecake, cannolis, Italian cookies, spice cookies, and tiramisu.

The Italian cookies were phenomenal, they were buttery cookies with a cake like consistency dipped in sweet vanilla icing with colorful sprinkles on them. "Now these I want the recipe for," Rumple said, eating four of them with his coffee.

"It's yours, Rumple," said Nona. "_After_ you dance with me at least once." Then she winked saucily at him.

"Mama!" Joe cried, hitting himself in the forehead.

"Be quiet, sonny! He's in no danger from me . . . though were I two hundred years younger . . . I might kidnap him from you, Belle, and hold him for ransom in my tower!"

Joe looked like he wanted to crawl under the table, Eva and Analisa just laughed, and so did Belle.

"I understand completely," she said to the old Italian witch.

Nona snapped her fingers and the invisible DJ started to play a rollicking Italian tune, the familiar tarantella danced all along the Southern coast of Italy.

All the Tessaros got up to dance, showing their Gold friends how it was done. Then they separated and each of them chose a partner, with Stefan showing Regina and Luca partnering Jess, Maria with Will, Angel with Henry, and so forth, down to Rumple and Nona.

Rumple was skeptical at first about being able to learn the quick steps required, until he likened it to some of the circle dances in his village back in the Enchanted Forest. Then he grasped it quickly enough, and soon he and Nona were flying across the floor.

To his shock, the elderly witch proved she still had plenty of life left in her ancient bones, and twirled and leaped, kicking up her heels and dancing her younger relatives into the ground.

She almost danced _him_ into the floor, but with his healed leg he proved able to keep up with the feisty old lady, and the two had the rest of the couples panting and gasping trying to keep up with them.

"My God! What'd he take . . . some kind of youth potion?" gasped Joe, twirling about with Snow.

"Do they have . . . umm . . . magical Viagra or something?" Snow asked naughtily.

Joe almost choked on his laughter. "Hell if I know, but Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, my mama can dance us all under the table , and I've never seen anybody but him able to match her!"

"My God, Emma! What was in those cookies, liquid speed?" panted Bae as he jigged and twirled with his wife.

Emma just laughed, and said, "Who cares, Bae?"

Nona and Rumple danced up and down past the buffet table twice before finally halting just as the music ceased. Both of them were smiling and laughing.

"Ah, _cara, _I haven't danced like that since my Mario died," Nona said with a wicked grin.

"My lady Tessaro, you almost danced my feet right off," Rumple admitted. "But that was such fun, dearie!"

"See, what did I tell you?" Then she gave him a sly pinch on the behind and cackled softly before sauntering back to the table to grab another Italian cookie.

Rumple made his way back to Belle, who had watched and clapped through the whole thing, and said, "Well, sweetheart, this will be one Christmas party we'll never forget."

"And you must come next year, _cara_!" Nona invited.

"Wouldn't miss it, dearie. And I think I speak for all of us," Rumple said, then drained his coffee mug and ate another cookie.

**Rumple's Recipe Corner:**

**Arrancini (Rice Balls)**

2 cups of long grain Carolina rice

1 lb prosciutto, chopped

8oz mozzarella, shredded

1-2 egg whites, beaten

Parsley

Bay leaf

Salt and pepper

Bread crumbs for rolling

Cook rice according to pkg directions, approximately twenty minutes, adding a bay leaf to it before boiling. Cool rice thoroughly and discard bay leaf. Mix rice, prosciutto, parsley, mozzarella, pepper and salt and egg white together in large bowl, making sure there is enough egg white to bind together all ingredients. Shape into balls, approx. the size of a golf ball, then dip in remaining egg white and roll in bread crumbs.

Place on wax paper. Heat oil in frying pan till med-high heat and then fry till crispy, turning once. Drain on paper towels and serve.

**A/N: Sorry i haven't updated this one in awhile, got sidetracked watching Robert Carlyle movies and writing Wicked Fantasy. If you want to listen to the songs they play at the party, just go to youtube and type in the titles/artists. Thanks for reading, and who knows the song Luca referred to?**


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